The recent South Australian Government Budget announcement to implement a real-time prescription monitoring system (RTPM) is a good step forward, but the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) calls on the government to ensure it is given high priority.
PSA SA/NT Branch President Robyn Johns urged the SA Government to follow through on this Budget commitment to help improve the health of South Australians.
“Real-time prescription monitoring was included in the state’s 2018-19 Budget but as yet we haven’t seen any progress,” she said.
“The 2019-20 Budget commitment of $4 million dollars to implement the system is very promising. However, timely implementation is crucial.”
PSA’s report highlighted the severity and cost of medicine-related problems. They are responsible for 250,000 hospital admissions and 400,000 emergency department presentations in Australia each year, costing the healthcare system $1.4 billion annually. At least half of this harm is avoidable.
“Medicine safety is a health priority and implementation of an RTPM system in South Australia will aid clinical decision making and provide an opportunity to identify and appropriately manage patients misusing specific prescription medications. In turn, this will help address medicine-related harm and ensure optimal health outcomes for South Australians,” Ms Johns said.
The Budget announcement states the estimated completion date of the RTPM system implementation is June 2020. PSA stands ready to engage with the government to achieve implementation within this timeframe.
Although PSA supports the independent work of states and territories in implementing real-time prescription monitoring systems, PSA believes this will continue to pose significant risks around interoperability across jurisdictions.
PSA has long advocated for the immediate implementation of a national recording and reporting system which would enable real-time monitoring to address the increase in harm resulting from inappropriate use of certain prescription medicines.
In 2018 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to progress a national solution where each jurisdiction develops their own system to connect with a Commonwealth system.
Some progress has been made with all states and territories, except NSW and WA, either implementing or setting strategies to introduce an RTPM system. Queensland is the most recent state to do so, introducing legislation into parliament in May that will enable the state’s health department to implement a mandatory RTPM system.
One of the key actions in PSA’s report is to embrace digital transformation to improve the quality use of medicines; support the delivery of safe, effective, and efficient healthcare; and facilitate collaborative models of care.
“Technological improvement in pharmacist care through systems such as RTPM allows us to make full use of pharmacists’ skills and improve health outcomes.
“We commend the SA Government for its commitment to implementing an RTPM system, but will continue to advocate for a nationally-consistent system to enable pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to work together to protect the entire Australian population from medicine-related harm,” Ms Johns said.
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