eMedication Project - Excellence Symposium 2023

Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) became the first public hospital in Australia to give doctors, nurse practitioners and patients the choice of an electronic prescription through its outpatient clinics in July 2022.
The new prescribing platform, eMedication, began a new era in digital health and has been an important part of East Metropolitan Health Services’ (EMHS) drive to give patients contemporary, excellent and safe virtual care options.
It also paved the way for other WA health services to follow suit and put WA at the forefront of the use of electronic prescriptions in hospitals nationally.
Electronic prescriptions are now available for inpatients and outpatients across RPH and Bentley Health Service and to people visiting the RPH Emergency Department. Armadale Kalamunda Group will introduce
them soon.
About 1000 electronic scripts are issued at Royal Perth Bentley Group (RPBG) each week.
Electronic prescriptions are digital versions of the traditional paper script but are provided to patients via a QR code sent by SMS or email. They can also be accessed through the Active Script List held by a patient’s pharmacy.
Health Support Services, the Australian Digital Health Agency and RPBG worked together to conceptualise, develop and implement eMedication.
The project aligns with EMHS and RPBG reform initiatives as well as Australian Digital Health Agency, WA Digital Health and WA Sustainable Health Review recommendations.
Success of the project required excellent communication, teamwork and collaboration across multidisciplinary health professionals to provide patients, dispensers and prescribers with a positive experience and a service they value.
Other WA public hospitals and services have since adopted the platform including Fiona Stanley Hospital, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Fremantle Hospital and the WA Country Health Service.