By Steve Ranger, 28 June 2006 14:45
Pharmacists won't have to try to decode doctors' handwriting for too much longer - Boots the Chemist will soon start testing systems that will in the future allow it to dispense electronic prescriptions.The move to electronic prescriptions is part of the £6.2bn NHS IT modernisation programme. Thousands of people every year have adverse reactions to drugs because of incorrectly inputted medical data, and the NHS hopes cutting paper out of the system could help reduce this figure.
In phase one of the new Electronic Prescriptions Service (EPS), the doctor will issue a patient with a paper prescription with a barcode printed on it, and in parallel an e-prescription is issued to the NHS data Spine.
The patient presents the barcoded prescription at their pharmacy which then scans it, to pull down the prescription down from The Spine, and processes it.
Release two of EPS starts to take paper out of the process by allowing patients to nominate a pharmacy where they can pick up their regular prescriptions without needing any paper prescription.
The move to electronic prescriptions is a vital project for Boots, which processes 100 million prescriptions per year through its 1,400 branches.
Boots Pharmacy IT manager Philip Hurst explained: "Dispensing prescriptions is a core part of the business and the ability to dispense e-prescriptions will become part of the essential services that a pharmacy will provide. In order to continue to operate, a pharmacy will have to operate an e-prescription service."
He added: "It's been quite a considerable change - it's the first time that pharmacy systems have had to be accredited with the NHS."
Boots is working with Quicksilva Software Solutions, which is providing the integration tool - Spinal Tap - to allow Boots to exchange electronic prescriptions with the data store known as the NHS Spine, and will soon start a beta test at an unnamed Boots store.
Hurst said: "We are in the process of developing an EPS compliant system which is currently going through the compliance process with Connecting for Health for EPS release one."
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. Richard
Reduces convenience?
With paper prescriptions, patients can go to any convenient pharmacy: Different ones on different occasions, to fit in with our other travel and work plans.
Will electronic prescriptions be tied to a particular pharmacy (or group in the case of Boots)?
What happens if we need to collect our medicines from somewhere else?
2. Simon
I hope they've already dealt with Richards worries. If they are doing it right, then you should be able to go to any pharmacy and they will be 'hooked up' and able to dispense you scrip.
Mind you, that could be a big IF !
3. Dr Colin Parsons
If Boots are paying to develop the system, I bet it's proprietary!
4. Dr Colin Parsons
If Boots are paying to develop the system, I bet it's proprietary!
5. Mohammed
NHS Connecting for Health is responsible for introducing an Electronic Prescription Service to which prescribers and dispensers in primary care in England will be connected. By 2007, every GP surgery (for use by the GPs, nurses and other prescribers working from the surgery) and community pharmacy and other dispensers will have access to the service.
During Phase 1, patients will receive a barcoded script which they can take to any Pharmacy (whether they are EPS compliant or not)
During Phase 2, patients will have the choice of nominating which pharmacy they want to pick the medication from, in which case the prescription notification is sent to the pharmacy so they can prepare the medication in advance. If the patient chooses not to nominate a Pharmacy, they will receive a barcoded script which they can take to any pharmacy and they will be able to pick up the details from the NHS
6. Caroline Burns
EPS is a national programme that is being rolled-out in community pharmacies and GP practices across England. It is not an initiative devised by Boots.
Patient choice and convenience will not be hindered as they will always have the choice to request a paper token - even when they have chosen to nominate a pharmacy.
Where nomination does take place, the patient will no longer be required to call at the GP practice just to collect a paper script. This will make the whole process far more convenient for patients.