SafeScript: Victoria's real-time prescription monitoring system.

BACKGROUND

A substantial increase in prescribing and dispensing of high-risk psychoactive medicines, including opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines, has resulted in an increase in serious harm from use and misuse, including non-fatal and fatal overdose.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this paper is to describe the need for real-time information about patients' receipt of high-risk psychoactive medicines and the development of SafeScript, Victoria's real-time prescription monitoring system.

DISCUSSION: SafeScript uses existing prescription exchange services to collect prescribing and dispensing data about psychoactive medicines subject to misuse or high-risk use. The introduction of SafeScript was accompanied by extensive support measures to encourage and support an effective professional response for patients recognised to be at risk of harm from their use of these medicines. Use is mandatory, and SafeScript is integrated into the professional's workflow. Alerts about several high-risk situations (high opioid daily dose, high-risk medicine combinations, supply by multiple providers) are automatically generated and provided to the professional user at the time of their SafeScript use.