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TasScript is real time prescription monitoring (RTPM) software that provides pharmacists and prescribers (doctors, nurse practitioner, and dentists who prescribe medicines) with a real-time history of high-risk monitored medicines their patients have been prescribed and supplied.
This information helps pharmacists and prescribers make better informed decisions about which medicines to prescribe or supply to you.
Why was TasScript implemented?
Australia has a growing national problem with the harms associated with high-risk prescription medicines. The harms, including deaths, from high-risk prescription medicines have increased and are now higher than illegal drugs.
Alerting prescribers and pharmacists to potential risks in real-time can help them make better informed decisions and keep people safe by identifying patients who:
- are at higher risk of unsafe use of these prescription medicines;
- may be redistributing high-risk prescription medicines; and
- are seeing multiple prescribers or pharmacies to receive prescriptions for monitored medicines.
All states and territories in Australia have implemented the national Real-Time Prescription Monitoring system to help save lives and reduce harm in the community from high-risk prescription medicines.
What medicines are monitored by TasScript?
TasScript monitors prescription medicines that are recognised as contributing to 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)
What information is recorded in TasScript?
Existing information that is provided by prescribers and pharmacists when a prescription is supplied for a monitored medicine is recorded in TasScript. This information includes:
- The date drug was prescribed
- The date drug was supplied
- Patient’s name
- Patient’s address
- Patient’s date of birth
- Name of drug
- Strength of drug
- Quantity of drug
- Doctor’s details
- Pharmacist’s details
In addition to this information, prescribers and pharmacists can view details of legal authorities to prescribe Schedule 8 medicines in Tasmania.
Who has access to TasScript?
Prescribers (eg doctors, nurse practitioners, dentists) and pharmacists who are involved in your care may view information about your prescription history in TasScript to ensure the supply of high-risk prescription medicines is safe for you.
Authorised Department of Health officers can also access TasScript as part of their regulatory role in ensuring the safe supply of high-risk prescription medicines in the community.
Does TasScript prevent me from receiving my regular medicines?
TasScript does not tell your prescriber or pharmacist what to do or decide whether a medicine should or should not be prescribed to you.
This clinical decision remains with your treating prescriber or pharmacist to determine whether the monitored medicines prescribed to you remain the safest and best option for your medical needs.
If you have been receiving the same medicines, or unsafe combinations, from more than one prescriber without each prescriber knowing, you could be at risk of harm. Your prescriber may consider changes for your safety that might include better coordination of care, safely adjusting your monitored medicine(s) doses or recommending alternative therapeutic approaches to managing issues such as pain, anxiety or insomnia.
Do I need to give my permission before my TasScript record can be accessed by a prescriber or pharmacist?
No. Tasmanian law requires all prescribers and pharmacists who are directly involved in your care to access your record to make sure the monitored medicine being prescribed or supplied is the safest and most appropriate option for you.
Where can I get further information?
Further information regarding TasScript is available on the Department of Health’s Medicines and Poisons Regulation webpage.
General enquiries regarding TasScript can be made by calling 03 6166 0400 or via email [email protected].