Types of prescriptions

What is a prescription?

A prescription is a legal document that health practitioners write for a pharmacist to dispense a specific medicine. You can’t legally obtain prescription-only medicines without a prescription. (There are actually some exceptions but we will cover that in?the next article)

What types of prescriptions are there?

Private - These are prescriptions that are not covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

PBS - These prescriptions are covered by the PBS.

Authority Streamlined and Phone Approval - These prescriptions require the prescriber to obtain an additional approval either by getting a phone approval or recording a streamlined code. The reason for additional approval could be for the following reasons:

• A quantity or repeat is prescribed which is larger than the usual PBS quantity
• The medication requires additional monitoring, tests or expertise at the of prescribing
• The medication is a high cost drug
• The medication has an equivalent but equally effective option which cannot be used for some reason

Repeat - This is an additional prescription that is allowed to be dispensed a number of times without needing to see the prescriber.?

Who can write a prescription?

• Medical practitioner
• Nurse practitioner and Midwive
• Optometrist
• Dentist
• Veterinarian

What do prescriptions look like?

Regular prescription handwritten

Regular prescription printed

Authority prescription

Dental prescription

Nurse practitioner prescription

Nurse practitioner authority

Optical prescription

How is a prescription given to a patient??

A prescription can be given in two ways:

• Paper-based
• Electronically

Electronic prescriptions

A patient can receive a prescription either?via a paper prescription or an electronic token. A patient can't get a paper script converted to an electronic prescription, nor can an electronic prescription be converted to a paper prescription.

How does a patient receive an electronic prescription?

A doctor will send a SMS or email to the patients mobile phone. It will contain a link to a ‘token’ which contains the prescription information.?A separate token will be sent for each individual medication.?

If a patient has multiple tokens and is having trouble accessing their tokens, you could consider providing them access to the Active Script List.?

What is the Active Script List?

An Active Script List is a digital list of electronic prescriptions and can be a convenient option for multiple medications.

Once registered, a patient no longer needs to keep track of each electronic prescription token. Having an Active Script List means they can walk into a participating pharmacy, give consent for them to access the list, and have that pharmacy dispense the medicines.?

How do I register a patient for Active Script List?

?A patient can only be registered for the Active Script List at the pharmacy, via the dispensing software. This will trigger a sms to be sent to the patient where they will have to provide the pharmacy consent.?

Each dispensing software will have their own process. Your friend Jayesh parihar have collated the most common links for you here:

• FRED Dispense?
• FRED Dispense Plus
• Corum Clear Dispense
• Minfos
• Z Software
• Dispense Works

60-day prescriptions

Prescriptions

What is the 60-day dispensing policy?

The 60-day dispensing policy means that patients will be able to receive twice the medication on a single prescription where their prescriber considers that it is clinically appropriate to do so. If stock is low or has a short expiry date, patients should not be negatively impacted.

What medicines can be prescribed for 60-days?

Not all medicines are eligible for 60-day dispensing. To see the list of medicines available for 60-day prescriptions click here. Also it is up to the discretion of the prescriber to determine if a 60-day dispensing is appropriate for a patient.?

Prescription validity - general medicines

Prescriptions

How to check prescription validity

For a prescription to be valid it must include the following information listed below. It is important that you check the following information and rectify any errors or missing information prior to placing in the queue for dispensing.

Check the patient’s prescription includes:

• the prescriber's name, address and contact details
• the prescriber number
• the patient’s name and address
• if the prescription is under the PBS or RPBS
• enough information to identify the pharmaceutical benefit including name, form, strength, quantity and number of repeats
• if the prescriber noted that brand substitution was?not?permitted
• the authority approval number or our approval stamp for Authority required items for example, Z1234AB
• the streamlined authority code for Authority required (STREAMLINED) items, for example 2438
• the prescriber's signature and date - forward or back dating is not permitted.

Expiry of prescriptions

Prescriptions are valid for 12 months from the date of prescribing. There is an exception for S8 and S4D medicines, where the expiry is 6 months from the date of prescribing.?

For a list of substances in Appendix D of the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008?CLICK HERE

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Jayesh Parihar, a registered pharmacist with over 5 years of experience at Royal Chemist and Druggist. Recently, I cleared the KAPS exam and am actively seeking an intern position in regional Australia to further expand my skills and contribute to the healthcare community.

I am passionate about supporting fellow pharmacists and healthcare professionals, which is why I regularly share articles and insights on LinkedIn. Through my posts, I aim to provide valuable information and resources that can help others in their professional journeys.

If you find my work helpful, please feel free to like, comment, and share my posts. Your support is greatly appreciated!

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