Fred IT Group wins Victorian Government Real Time Prescription Monitoring contract

Fred IT Group has been appointed by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services to deliver Australia’s first large-scale prescription monitoring system as part of its SafeScript initiative.
Real time prescription monitoring is a strategic priority for the Victorian Government in its effort to reduce the real and growing issue of prescription medicine misuse.

Last year, 372 Victorians died from an overdose of prescription medicines, which is higher than the road toll for five years in a row. This is a devastating statistic.

We welcome this opportunity to play a role in this significant and important Victorian Government initiative that has real potential to save lives.

Through our partnership with Fred IT’s eRx Script Exchange and in conjunction with MediSecure, we will provide a vital clinical alerting tool and capability to enable doctors and pharmacists to identify and support patients with potential dependency issues with prescription medications.

By connecting the health practitioners who prescribe and dispense medication with important and timely information about that person’s history relating to controlled drugs, doctors will be better informed to have conversations with their patients that could help mitigate potential misuse and hopefully, improve the statistics.

Fred IT Group is Australia’s largest provider of Pharmacy IT solutions servicing over 3,000 pharmacies. In 2009, Fred launched the ground breaking cloud based solution eRx Script Exchange, Australia’s first and largest national electronic prescriptions exchange. Fred IT is a partnership between Telstra Health, Fred IT and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

About the author:

Mary Foley is the MD of Telstra Health. She has held leadership positions in state and federal government, the private and non-for-profit sectors. Prior to joining Telstra Health, she was Director General and Secretary of NSW Health and has led PwC Australia’s National Health Practice in Australia. Mary is a former Telstra NSW Business Woman of the Year.