Minister of Health Andrew Little is expanding the e-Prescription services to include controlled drugs, and saying goodbye to fax machines.
And it's good night for fax machines for prescriptions. Photo: 123RF
Little said electronic prescriptions could be faster, safer, cheaper and more convenient, but was hardly ever done before the pandemic.
The number of GPs using the official government service rose from 415 in March 2020 to 1038 in March this year and the number of scripts from 624,300 to 1,559,427.
The new changes announced today mean prescriptions for controlled drugs like morphine do not have to be in hard copy, with a physical signature.
"We will, finally, be able to say goodbye to fax machines," Little said.
"And for medicines for some chronic conditions like ADHD, prescribers will be able to increase the period of time covered by a single e-Prescription, reducing the number of times patients need to visit a GP for repeat prescriptions."
Little said it would cut administration costs for medical practices and be helpful for people who find visiting a doctor to get a prescription difficult due to travel or affordability.
The changes are expected to be in place by the end of the year.