A new electronic system to monitor controlled drugs will help doctors and pharmacists to combat ‘doctor shopping’ for scripts in WA.
‘Doctor shopping’ is a growing problem across Australia driven by addiction and abuse of controlled medicines, but now ScriptCheckWA will give approved users access to data on controlled drugs 24/7, as well as facilitating seamless communication between doctors, and GPs and pharmacies.
The system underwent testing with a select group of WA doctors during the first two months of 2023 and following the successful pilot, the system is now ready for release to all GPs and community pharmacies throughout WA on 28 March.
Announcing the scheme on 11 March, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the platform would be a ‘gamechanger’ for doctors and pharmacists.
“Early users of the system say it has vastly improved the way they can support their patients and manage any risks in relation to these medications,” Minister Sanderson said.
“The platform allows doctors and pharmacists to instantly detect doctor shopping – meaning they can intervene where people are accessing excessive amounts of these medicines.
“The strength of the new ScriptCheckWA system is that it now gives health practitioners instant, secure access to this data, as it occurs.
“Better access to this data will support rapid identification of people with a drug problem and assist with their timely referral into an appropriate drug treatment program.”
The drugs reported in ScriptCheckWA include both Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 medications such as cannabis-based products, stimulants such as dexamphetamine for the treatment of ADHD, opioids (morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl, methadone), and other miscellaneous controlled drugs for pain and anxiety.
The discussion paper which informed the implementation, Amendments to the Medicines and Poisons Regulations 2016 and the Schedule 8 Medicines Prescribing Code (published in August 2022), pointed out that it is well recognised that some Schedule 4 medicines, such as benzodiazepines, are used for non-medical reasons.
“In addition, the combined use of opioids and other sedating drugs such as benzodiazepines and related drugs such as zolpidem and zopiclone is well known to increase a person’s risk of excessive sedation, respiratory depression, coma and death,” the report said.
“The introduction of real-time prescription monitoring (RTPM) means prescribers and dispensers have greater and more timely access to information about their patient’s exposure to medicines in Schedule 8 (S8) and prior or current use of illicit drugs…
“Using RTPM to [also] monitor the prescribing and dispensing of higher risk Schedule 4 (S4) medicines could reduce the regulatory burden for prescribers, without diminishing the public health protections afforded by the Medicines and Poisons legislation.
“RTPM also presents an opportunity to consider reducing the level of regulatory control over the prescribing of these medicines.”
In 2019, 4.2% of Australians (14 years and over) reported the non-medical use of pharmaceuticals in the previous 12 months, and the report highlighted that users most commonly sourced these drugs from friends and family, followed by dealers (particularly if the person also uses illicit drugs), with doctor shopping used around 7% of the time.
The Department of Health will closely monitor the outcomes of the program and consideration will be given to adding other problematic prescription medicines to the system in the future.