MOVES to accelerate the introduction of electronic prescriptions could cause "unnecessary chaos" the Pharmacy Guild of Australia warns.
In a statement released yesterday, the Guild said the "rushed introduction" of the system as a part of the Federal Government's COVID-19 National Health Plan would be "a backward step for patient care at exactly the wrong time".
"The Guild cannot support the introduction of a measure that will impose further significant disruption at a time when community pharmacies are already under intense pressures to support their patients during COVID-19," a spokesperson said.
"The proposed fast-track introduction of the 'token' model for electronic prescriptions is the wrong move at a time when the system and pharmacy network is clearly not ready and experiencing unprecedented challenges.
"The untested system, under which prescriptions would be conveyed by 'tokens' sent to patients by text or email, presents unnecessary risks to patient care and will impose unwarranted disruption to the administrative and clinical workflow of both prescribers and community pharmacies already having to adjust to new arrangements in support of the COVID-19 National Health Plan.
"The COVID-19 emergency has already seen significant rapid changes introduced to address the need for self-isolation and telemedicine, including prescriptions being sent as a photo image by email, fax and in some States text message, directly from prescribers to community pharmacies.
"The high number of prescriptions being dispensed through these telehealth measures demonstrates that patients are continuing to have ready access to their medicines without the need, at this stressful time, for a token-based electronic prescription which would severely test pharmacy systems.
"From the pharmacy patient perspective, the electronic prescription token system is not suited to patients on multiple medications and will cause further disruption and confusion.
"This is why the Guild has recommended, through the Electronic Prescribing National Change and Adoption Working Group, that the alternative model known as the Active-Script List be prioritised as it best supports a patient's access to their medicines via electronic prescribing and best enables the community pharmacy to support this access."
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