THE Pharmacy Guild of Australia has announced that its MedsASSIST real time recording system, developed to help reduce the misuse of over-the-counter combination analgesic medicines containing codeine, will be discontinued after 31 Jan 2018.
Because all medicines recorded in MedsASSIST will be up-scheduled to prescription only from 01 Feb, the system will become redundant at that time.
The real time recording system was introduced nationally in Mar 2016 and was designed specifically to record over-the-counter medicines containing codeine.
During its brief life MedsASSIST has recorded more than 10 million transactions, with more than 70% of pharmacies voluntarily using it.
Pharmacists using the system have been able to identify at-risk patients and gained access to additional support resources and referral pathways when needed, the Guild said.
The Guild previously planned to close down MedsASSIST last year (PD 30 Mar 2017), but Health Minister Greg Hunt stepped in, promising to "seek urgent advice on the necessary steps to strengthen the regulatory underpinnings" of the system.
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