Submission: Online Prescribing Services: Sharing medicines-related information to My Health Record by Default
AHPA responds to the Online Prescribing Services: Sharing medicines-related information to My Health Record by Default consultation.
AHPA is supportive of increasing consumer health information available via My Health Record under the Sharing by Default legislation provided suitable consent is sought, consumer-controlled sharing mechanisms enable nuanced control and providers have affordable access to efficient technology to do so.
AHPA is generally supportive of the policy proposed to apply the Sharing by Default legislation to medicines prescribed via online prescribing services, however, note these key points for consideration as the policy is refined prior to implementation:
Information to be shared should be clearly defined and consistent irrelevant of the upload mechanism; the required format should be stipulated to ensure data can be accurately interpreted, shared and analysed.
The scope of the initiative should be expanded as soon as practically possible rather than limited in anyway. The benefits to consumer safety that can be realised by sharing medicine information are clearly outlined in the paper and are not limited to online prescribers only.
Allied health professionals for whom prescribing medicines is within their scope of practice are currently limited to optometrists and podiatrists, these two professions need to be provided affordable access to fit for purpose software to be able to comply with these requirements. AHPA suggests coordinating targeted collaborative work with the Agency and the two peak bodies representing these professions to ensure suitable software providers enable electronic-prescribing and connection via the National Prescription Delivery Service.
Medicine safety is not only a matter for those prescribing and dispensing medications; it also affects professionals who work with clients taking medicines and who provide interventions that may interact with those medicines. Sharing medicine information within My Health Record will facilitate allied health professionals to assist with monitoring of risk, harm reduction and treatment effectiveness indicators as well as ensure complimentary therapy is provided.
No professional should provide care services considering medication information in isolation from clinical history and other important health data. Therefore, it is critical that all allied health professionals have improved access to both viewing and uploading information within My Health Record as soon as possible. This will enable prescribers to consider the consumer more holistically as they make prescription decisions.