A significant change is coming to pharmacies around the Ballarat region as electronic prescriptions begin to replace the traditional paper method. The announcement is a welcomed one according to UFS operations manager for pharmacy Peter Fell, who said the change should have been made years ago. "I think it's a fantastic initiative," he said. "This would have been something that would have been great to have seen a couple of years ago. The pressures of COVID-19 have meant that there has been more work done in this space in the past six months than in the past three years which is great." Under this model, when your doctor writes your electronic prescription they will send you a unique QR barcode known as a 'token' via an app, SMS or email. This QR code is like a 'key' to the legal electronic document sitting in the secure Prescription Delivery Service. READ MORE: You will need to show the code to your pharmacist to get your prescription, either on your phone or printed out. Mr Fell said while there was bound to be some hiccups in the beginning, he iswas anticipating the initiative to make things a lot more convenient for everyone involved. "It's terrific from the point of view of convenience from a whole range of different fronts," he continued. "For less-technologically literate people there may be a bit of a learning curve there, but I'm sure our staff will be happy to help people navigate what they have to do." These sentiments were echoed by Briddon Hardwick of Crawford's Pharmacy on Sturt Street. "While this may affect people who struggle with technology or are from a lower socio-economic background, there are a lot of old people who are very competent on their smartphones," he said. "All this has been fast-tracked because of the pandemic... as with everything, at the start I would assume there will be some hiccups. I think it will be a good thing, it's going to allow us to work quickly once all the kinks have been sorted out." The National President of the Pharmacy Guild, George Tambassis, said electronic prescriptions are a welcome technological innovation as they give people convenient access to their medicines and improve patient safety. "They help to reduce the risk of errors that can be associated with written prescriptions, including misinterpretation and illegible instructions," he said in a statement. "Another positive of electronic prescriptions is that once they are bedded-in and integrated into the pharmacy's workflow, they cut administrative work for health professionals, freeing up time to devote to patient welfare." WHAT DO YOU THINK? LET US KNOW BELOW:
A significant change is coming to pharmacies around the Ballarat region as electronic prescriptions begin to replace the traditional paper method.
The announcement is a welcomed one according to UFS operations manager for pharmacy Peter Fell, who said the change should have been made years ago.
"I think it's a fantastic initiative," he said.
"This would have been something that would have been great to have seen a couple of years ago. The pressures of COVID-19 have meant that there has been more work done in this space in the past six months than in the past three years which is great."
Under this model, when your doctor writes your electronic prescription they will send you a unique QR barcode known as a 'token' via an app, SMS or email. This QR code is like a 'key' to the legal electronic document sitting in the secure Prescription Delivery Service.
You will need to show the code to your pharmacist to get your prescription, either on your phone or printed out.
Mr Fell said while there was bound to be some hiccups in the beginning, he iswas anticipating the initiative to make things a lot more convenient for everyone involved.
"It's terrific from the point of view of convenience from a whole range of different fronts," he continued.
"For less-technologically literate people there may be a bit of a learning curve there, but I'm sure our staff will be happy to help people navigate what they have to do."
These sentiments were echoed by Briddon Hardwick of Crawford's Pharmacy on Sturt Street.
Crawford's Pharmacy on Sturt Street. Picture: Kate Healy.
"While this may affect people who struggle with technology or are from a lower socio-economic background, there are a lot of old people who are very competent on their smartphones," he said.
"All this has been fast-tracked because of the pandemic... as with everything, at the start I would assume there will be some hiccups. I think it will be a good thing, it's going to allow us to work quickly once all the kinks have been sorted out."
The National President of the Pharmacy Guild, George Tambassis, said electronic prescriptions are a welcome technological innovation as they give people convenient access to their medicines and improve patient safety.
"They help to reduce the risk of errors that can be associated with written prescriptions, including misinterpretation and illegible instructions," he said in a statement.
"Another positive of electronic prescriptions is that once they are bedded-in and integrated into the pharmacy's workflow, they cut administrative work for health professionals, freeing up time to devote to patient welfare."
