ePrescriptions rollout ramped up with new tech

Australian pharmacy IT solutions provider Fred IT is using its Programmable Messaging API and Twilio Studio to provide electronic prescriptions to millions of Australians.

Electronic prescriptions, or ePrescriptions, allow patients who have registered for My Script List (MySL) to order their prescriptions with their local pharmacy via WhatsApp. This innovation makes it easier for patients to manage their ePrescriptions, and safer for healthcare professionals and patients during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Fred IT wanted to legalise electronic prescriptions and move away from paper. To do this, it needed to build a new system, which would traditionally take approximately six months. Instead, Fred IT implemented Twilio’s Programmable Messaging API, which accelerated its timeline, from concept to market, from six months to eight weeks amidst a global pandemic.

Prior to the pandemic, Fred IT’s service eRx Script Exchange was already being used by thousands of Australian doctors and pharmacists, and had provided over 30,000 users transmissions. Today, eRX is being used by 21,000 doctors and 95% of pharmacies in Australia, and has provided over 11 million digital prescriptions.

Paul Naismith, founder and CEO at Fred IT, said, “As demand continues to grow, scalability with messaging services to support our future volume growth has been easier than ever. Twilio has allowed us to grow at scale, fast, meeting consumer expectations and changing behaviours. We’ve also recently launched a WhatsApp integration capability, providing digital prescriptions and meeting our customers where they are communicating.”

My Script List will work alongside the existing token workflows to provide patients with flexibility in how they digitally access their medications.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Gorodenkoff