The Department of Health has announced a new electronic system to monitor controlled drugs called ScriptCheckWA which is to come into force on 28 March.
According to the Department its aim is to help doctors and pharmacists combat ‘doctor shopping’ for scripts.
It said the system had been on trial with a select group of doctors over the past two months and is now ready for release to all general practitioners and community pharmacies.
The system gives approved users access to data on controlled drugs 24/7 and facilitates seamless communication between doctors and pharmacies, as well as between different doctors.
The Department said drugs reported in ScriptCheckWA included controlled items such as opioids for treatment of severe pain; stimulants for treatment of ADHD; cannabis-based products; and other miscellaneous controlled drugs.
“The Department will closely monitor the outcomes of ScriptCheckWA and consideration will be given to adding other problematic prescription medicines to the system in the future,” the Department said.
The Minister for Health, Amber-Jade Sanderson said early users of the system said it was a vastly improved way to support their patients and manage any risks in relation to the medications.
“The platform allows doctors and pharmacists to instantly detect doctor shopping — meaning they can intervene where people are accessing excessive amounts of these medicines.” Ms Sanderson said.
“The strength of the new ScriptCheckWA system is that it now gives health practitioners instant, secure access to this data, as it occurs,” she said.
