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ScriptCheckSA for South Australian prescribers

  • Updated

What is ScriptCheckSA?

ScriptCheckSA is the new Real Time Prescription Monitoring (RTPM) system, built in accordance with the Government of South Australia's 2018 commitment to implementing an RTPM system by early 2021.

This system is designed to provide doctors with up-to-date information about a patient's history of prescribed monitored medicines. ScriptCheckSA aims to assist practitioners over South Australia in identifying at risk patients, minimise doctor shopping, and ensure patients are receiving the best possible care.

As part of this initiative, starting from 1 November 2020 electronic records made for monitored drugs must be reported to the Drugs of Dependence Unit (DDU) in accordance with the changes to the Controlled Substances (Poisons) Regulations 2011.

Will ScriptCheckSA work with Genie?

As ScriptCheckSA relies on the electronic communication of prescriptions, you will need to have a prescription exchange service (PES) such as eRx or MediSecure installed on each machine where you prescribe.

We have communicated with the Drugs of Dependence Unit of South Australia, as well as each PES mentioned above and confirmed that there is no manual reporting that is required by South Australian prescribers so long as they have eRx or MediSecure installed and configured with their practice management software.

What is Genie doing to integrate with ScriptCheckSA?

We are actively working on our new prescribing shared service including Active Ingredient Prescribing compliance and e-Prescribing, which is currently scheduled for completion in early 2021. This new shared service will include a connection with the NDE, meaning that our integration with eRx and MediSecure should then seamlessly connect with ScriptCheckSA once this work is finished.

How will it work?

ScriptCheckSA will work by utilising the communication between Genie and eRx / MediSecure, similar to how SafeScript works in Victoria.

When you prescribe Schedule 8 drugs (and particular Schedule 4 poisons), the prescription record will be automatically and securely sent via your PES software.

Once ScriptCheckSA is released state-wide in March 2021, doctors can also access an Online Health Practitioner Portal, allowing them to view if patients have been flagged for any reason (excessive quantities, doctor shopping, drug seeking behaviour, etc.).

What if I don't have eRx or MediSecure?

If you do not have eRx or MediSecure software, you will need to send monthly returns to the Drugs of Dependence Unit by the 7th day of each month. Instructions on what to include in your monthly returns and where to send it can be found in the below document:

To remove the need for manual reports, we recommend installing a prescription exchange service to integrate with your Genie software.

These PES are free of charge and easily installed by the electronic prescription company. You can contact them using any of the below addresses.

eRx: 1300 700 921 support@erx.com.au 
MediSecure: 1800 47 27 47 enquiries@medisecure.com.au 

Who can I contact for more information?

If you would like to speak directly to the team behind this initiative in the Government of South Australia, you can contact the Drugs of Dependence Unit by phone or email for more information.

Phone: 1300 652 584
Email: HealthDrugsOfDependenceUnit@sa.gov.au 

Submit your monthly returns

As the current eRx and MediSecure integration with Genie will not automatically send this information through to ScriptCheckSA, this information will need to be manually submitted to the Drugs of Dependence Unit by the 7th day of each month.

For information on how to do this, please see the Drugs of Dependence Unit Monthly Pharmacy Drugs of Dependence Returns - PDF then send through your report to Health.DDReturn@sa.gov.au.