Fred IT Group to lead national real-time prescription monitoring project

Fred IT Group is pleased to announce that it has been appointed by the Department of Health to lead the new national system for real-time prescription monitoring which is designed to reduce the devastating impact of prescription medicine overdoses.

In 2016 there were 1,808 deaths in Australia as a result of prescription medicine overdoses, according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The introduction of a national approach to real-time prescription monitoring will play a significant role in preventing prescription medication misuse and saving lives by:

• providing health professionals with accurate and up to date clinical data about patient prescriptions
• enabling doctors and pharmacists to identify and support patients who are at risk.

Fred’s recent experience in the developing of the Victorian real-time prescription monitoring system, SafeScript, will be invaluable in extending real-time prescription monitoring to health professionals in all states and territories.

Fred CEO and pharmacist Paul Naismith said: “I have seen first-hand the anguish that accidental prescription drug overdose can cause to families who have lost loved ones, and am honoured that Fred can take part in developing eHealth systems to reduce the devastating impact of prescription overdose and misuse throughout the community.”

“Fred is committed to making medication management safer and more effective for all Australians, and we applaud the Australian government for taking a national approach to this problem.”

Telstra Health Managing Director Mary Foley also welcomed the announcement: “A national prescription safety system is a significant development that will save lives. Platforms such as this leverage our rapidly digitising healthcare environment to connect healthcare silos, and will support providers to improve medication safety in the community.”

Fred will design, build and deliver the software system for the National Data Exchange (NDE) component.

This will include working closely with medical and pharmacy software vendors and jurisdictions to provide a consistent user experience for health professionals practicing in different environments and to reflect individual state and territory requirements in the national system.