Patients can request a repeat prescription electronically and have it sent straight to their pharmacy of choice using Clanwilliam’s new Pippo app.

Clanwilliam launched Pippo last year as part of a pilot with general practices complete with online appointment booking capability.

The full release of the app in April saw repeat prescriptions functionality added, which Clanwilliam hopes will be able to save participating practices an estimated 15 to 30 minutes per prescription.

The aim is to ensure seamless, secure and efficient interactions between GPs and patients across Ireland, a Clanwilliam spokesperson said.

The app is fully interoperable with existing GP practice management systems including Socrates and Helix Practice Manager (HPM).

Patient engagement with the app is managed by the practice through SMS, posters, leaflets and practice emails to encourage patients to use the service. Patients register using an email address.

The ability to request repeat prescriptions is being carefully managed, the spokesperson said.

“Part of the core design of Pippo is to put the practice in control of all aspects of the service. The practice decides which patients are approved on the service and for which service (appointments, prescriptions etc).

“For prescriptions, patients must be onboarded to the system, must pre-exist in the practice, and they can only request medications that have been previously prescribed and marked as a repeat prescription.

“Pippo sends the request to the prescriber. In every instance a doctor in the practice has to review the request, approve or decline it, and create the prescription.”

In practice, the request goes directly to the refill tray (prescription request viewer) in the practice system. The doctor reviews these requests and declines the whole request if unsuitable.

A reason for declining the request can be sent to the patient, but the doctor can also decline aspects of the request by selecting an option to edit the request and delete any medication requested by the patient.

They can then approve the requests by confirming it, which sends it to the pharmacy selected by the patient, the spokesperson said.

All payments are handled with Billink, which is fully integrated with Pippo and the PMS. With repeat prescription requests, the service uses a pre-authorisation feature.

Disclaimer: Pulse+IT Ireland is an independent publication within the Clanwilliam Group.