First to market to help GPs, pharmacists and patients navigate eScripts
Medtech company MedAdvisor Limited (ASX: MDR) has been approved by the Federal Government via the Australian Digital Health Agency and will be launching its ePrescribing functionality to help connect GPs, pharmacists and patients as they navigate the roll out of eScripts across Australia.
The Federal Government accelerated the roll out of ePrescribing after the COVID-19 pandemic restricted patients’ ability to access their prescribers or pharmacies. The utility this will provide to facilitate remote medicines management and accurate dispensing is important in the Australian healthcare market.
“MedAdvisor is delighted to be the first in the Australian market with a digital app solution that helps patients keep track of and organise all their eScripts. The national rollout of ePrescribing provides patients with convenience, access and choice - something we’ve been long time advocates for,” MedAdvisor CEO and Managing Director Robert Read said.
“Recent studies in nations that already use e-prescribing show that more than 80% of patients prefer e-scripts to paper. By providing continued excellence in customer service, combined with hyper-convenient patient experiences, local pharmacists can strengthen their loyal customer base and better compete with online pharmacies.”
The MedAdvisor platform utilises tokens as a streamlined, private and secure way to handle eScripts. The roll out will commence imminently in Victoria before rolling out nationally later this month.
“With the rise of telehealth and digital consults during this COVID-19 pandemic and the changes to prescribing temporarily allowed by the Government, prescribers have needed to send digital images of scripts directly to pharmacies via fax or email, which adds significant administrative burden for both prescribers and pharmacies, and poses the risk of prescribers channelling patients to specific pharmacies,” Read said, adding: “The introduction of ePrescriptions will solve these issues and put the control back in the patient’s hands.”
Tokens via the MedAdvisor app represent a simple and secure way for patients to receive and manage their ePrescriptions. This has involved extensive work from both the software and healthcare industry and the Government to ensure they meet the appropriate privacy and security standards. From a patient perspective, tokens are similar to paper scripts but accessed digitally via SMS, email or mobile application, thereby minimising the risk of confusion and medication misadventure. It also allows patients to remain in control of who is accessing their medication information.
Much like an airline ticket, tokens can be tapped into MedAdvisor and then automatically organised into a digital script wallet that can be easily sent right to a pharmacy’s dispensing workflow. This removes faxes, emails and other disruptive processes that pharmacists are currently experiencing with digital image dispensing.
For pharmacists, processing of tokens will be faster and more efficient than paper scripts, meaning minimal change and disruption to current workflows. MedAdvisor’s ePrescribing functionality will be rolled out in stages with Victoria first followed by the rest of Australia.
MedAdvisor expects that ePrescribing, together with a new streamlined digital patient activation process, will enable a faster path to patient growth in the Australian marketplace. This improved onboarding experience for patients will enable MedAdvisor to drive increased program income streams for a larger patient base. These revenue streams include SMS reminders, health programs and transactions such as GP services and in-app payments.
Andrew Robinson, Owner of Amcal Tooronga which has been a trial site said “Digital scripts are a critical part of effective medicines management. MedAdvisor has made the solution easy for customers to manage something that would otherwise be confusing without an app. The pharmacy workflow is really efficient.”
This Australian development is on the back of MedAdvisor recently going live with digital health programs in the USA (Q4 FY20) and launching an app in the UK through its key partnership with Day Lewis Pharmacy (Q1 FY21).
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