Just as big uptake of telehealth marked the first quarter of the eHealth year in Australia, developments in electronic prescribing increased in pace in the second. As part of a range of measures to help get medications to patients quickly and safely, the federal government announced it would fast-track the roll out of electronic prescribing, having made the legislative changes allowing eScripts as a legal alternative to paper late last year.

In March, the Department of Health proposed a development sprint with prescribing and dispensing software vendors to get the majority of GPs and pharmacies with the capability within eight weeks. While our survey of GP software vendors showed a couple would be ready with their fast-tracked versions, there was no way it would reach 80 per cent within two months. The department's agreement to allow image-based prescribing, with photos of scripts emailed or faxed to the pharmacy, proved a bit more useful.