Half a million prescriptions filled digitally so far this year
500,000 prescriptions, about one for every resident of the country, have been filled and given out so far this year using the computerised prescription platform which was first rolled out two and a half years ago, Health Minister Chris Fearne said yesterday.
Speaking at the Pharmacy of Your Choice (POYC) centre at St Luke’s Hospital, Fearne said that after the system had started in the POYC centre, it was then extended to health centres, before also being extended to private family doctors last October.
Since, 284 doctors have adopted the digital system, and Fearne said that it was up to them to transfer from writing out prescriptions by hand to inputting them digitally.
He explained the benefits of the digital system, saying that it was more secure, safer, more cost effective, and more efficient.
He noted that the digitised system removes any shadow of doubt that can arise from handwriting and hence eliminates the possibility of errors in reading the prescription, while the digital records will form part of the patient’s online health database – which they can access through the MyHealth system – which can be accessed by doctors who would need to know what medication their patient is on, especially in emergency situations, to administer the proper treatment.
He added that it was more cost effective as it reduced waste and over stocking of medicine, and that it increased efficiency because it meant that doctors spend less time writing up prescriptions and more time seeing patients.
He said that half a million prescriptions had been done through the digital system – a third of the number of prescriptions that are normally written in a year.
The aim, he said, is to continue adding to this percentage and to have a system that is compatible with the electronic patient record, before noting that the next step is for prescriptions to go directly to pharmacies for patients to find there.