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Real time prescription monitoring
Real-time prescription monitoring (RTPM) enables prescribers, pharmacists and medicine regulators to access real-time information about a patient’s medication history. This includes information about specific high‑risk drugs and legal authorisations to prescribe.
What is TasScript
TasScript is the Tasmanian implementation of the Australian Government’s real-time prescription monitoring (RTPM) system. It allows prescribers and pharmacists to access information about their patient’s prescription history for certain high-risk monitored medicines.
Alerting prescribers and pharmacists to potential risks in real-time can help them make safer decisions before prescribing or dispensing a high-risk monitored medicine and reduces the incidence of harm, including death, from the injudicious use of high-risk monitored medicines.
TasScript does not make clinical decisions for a prescriber or pharmacist and does not prevent clinicians from prescribing or dispensing a medicine they believe is clinically necessary.
Every 2 minutes, 1 Australian is hospitalised because of prescription medicines.
TasScript replaces Australia’s first RTPM system, the Tasmanian DORA system.
Unlike DORA, TasScript is a mandatory use system. This means all prescribers and pharmacists must take all reasonable steps to check TasScript before issuing or dispensing a high-risk monitored medicine.
Medicines monitored in TasScript
TasScript monitors prescription medicines that are causing the greatest harm to the Tasmanian community.
Medicines that are monitored in TasScript include:
- all Schedule 8 medicines (eg opioids, benzodiazepines, amfetamines)
- all Schedule 4 opioids (codeine, tramadol, dextropropoxyphene)
- benzodiazepines, such as diazepam
- gabapentin
- olanzapine
- pregabalin
- quetiapine
- ‘Z-drugs’ (zolpidem, zopiclone)
TasScript monitors all prescriptions for these medicines regardless of whether they receive a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) subsidy or are private, non-PBS prescriptions.
Who has access to TasScript
Prescribers (eg doctors, nurse practitioners, dentists) and pharmacists are authorised under the Tasmanian legislation to securely access TasScript to view records of all high-risk monitored medicines that have been prescribed or dispensed to patients under their care.
Patients are not able to opt-out or restrict what medication history can be viewed in TasScript. This is necessary to ensure a comprehensive medication history can be captured to support health practitioners to make better informed clinical decisions and reduce the harms caused by high-risk monitored medicines.
Data protection in TasScript
TasScript has been designed to meet Tasmanian and national security standards to protect patient information. Data is encrypted to keep information protected and secure. An audit log is created in TasScript every time a record is viewed. If inappropriate use is detected, penalties apply under Tasmanian law, and healthcare providers can be referred to Tasmania Police and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) for further investigation.
Patients concerned that their health information has been inappropriately handled by a health practitioner can contact the Health Complaints Commissioner on 1800 001 170.
