Thu Jan 29

The government wants to track your medicines – here’s why

Written by Megan Prictor, Associate Professor in Health Technology Law, The University of Melbourne

On Wednesday, the federal government announced ^[1] plans to reform how medications are dispensed and tracked, aiming to reduce unsafe use, stockpiling and “doctor shopping”.

This will include two stages. First, the government will require all online and telehealth prescribers to upload information about a patient’s prescribed medications to their My Health Record.

Second, the government plans to develop a National Medicines Record ^[2] – an over-arching database ^[3] to register and monitor all current prescriptions.

So, how would this work? While some detail is still lacking, here’s what we know.

Why is this needed?

An increasing number of Australians take multiple medications. Recent research ^[4] analysing prescribing patterns in Australia estimates almost two million of us took five or more regular medicines in 2024.

While multiple medicines are often needed to manage multiple conditions ^[5], there are risks ^[6] of adverse effects.

And when a clinician prescribes medication or a pharmacist dispenses it without a full understanding of the patient’s current medications, it can lead to harmful interactions between them.

This can make a patient sicker and often lands them in hospital. An estimated ^[7] 1.5 million people in Australia experience some kind of harmful side effect from using medicine each year.

Those at particular risk are older adults taking numerous medications, as well as those transitioning between health-care settings ^[8] (such as going into hospital or returning home).

Sometimes patients also stockpile medications ^[9], including through consulting multiple doctors ^[10], known as “doctor shopping”. For example, they might do this to obtain extra supplies of addictive pain medication.

How does it work right now?

Currently, there is no centralised, mandatory register that records all of the medicines a person is prescribed and dispensed.

Instead, prescribing information may be siloed in hospital and aged care systems, general practice records and those of online telehealth providers such as Instant Scripts, 13SICK and Hola Health.

This can prevent any single doctor or pharmacist from having clear, comprehensive information about a patient’s medications.

Some health-care practitioner ^[11] and pharmacy ^[12] bodies have criticised the online prescribing industry, in particular, for contributing to inappropriate prescribing and medication misuse.

For high-risk medications such as opioids, there is already a Real Time Prescription Monitoring system ^[13]. Victoria has a similar system called SafeScript ^[14], but this doesn’t record the full range of prescription medications.

Announcing the reforms, Health Minister Mark Butler referred ^[15] to an Australian woman who died from an overdose after stockpiling her medicine. He explained her parent’s advocacy prompted the government to address the lack of a comprehensive medicines record.

What will change?

First, the government will require online and telehealth prescribing platforms to add information to the My Health Record ^[16] system about prescribed medications. This will include information about the clinical reasoning ^[17] for prescribing.

My Health Record ^[18] is a government-run platform providing a secure, online collection of a patient’s health information. Both patients and their treating health-care professionals can access it.

So any medication or related clinical information uploaded by a prescriber would be accessible via My Health Record, to the patient as well as to their health-care providers and pharmacists.

Many general practices already upload ^[19] this information, but online prescribing platforms may not. Organisations representing pharmacists ^[20] have long called for this kind of change.

Will it work?

In theory, it is a step forward. The challenge is that the My Health Record system remains under-used. One in 10 Australians ^[21] have no My Health Record (the system is opt-out).

For the millions of Australians who do have a My Health Record, usage is increasing. But many still have never accessed their own record.

It is also not clear whether, and how, a patient’s access to their own My Health Record would reduce medication harm (particularly if the patient is deliberately stockpiling medication).

Almost all GPs, pharmacies and public hospitals are registered for My Health Record and have used the system. But data shows ^[22] pharmacies are mainly using it to upload information rather than looking at records others have uploaded.

Overall, ensuring that all medicines information is available on the My Health Record is a positive step.

But it does not mean that the information will be accessed (or understood) by others who are prescribing and dispensing medication to a patient.

Indeed, sadly, the warnings that were placed by hospital services on the My Health Record of the young woman who died from an overdose were not accessed by telehealth services nor pharmacies ^[23] prescribing and supplying her with medication.

What’s ahead?

As a second step, the government says it will design and build a National Medicines Record. This would be an overarching platform linked to My Health Record and other digital health systems, to register all current prescriptions.

At this stage, detail is lacking, but health-care practitioner ^[24] and pharmacy bodies ^[25] are broadly supportive.

A consultation ^[26] is underway.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.