October 2021
News
In this issue
Late name change – COVID-19 ASTRAZENECA to VAXZEVRIA
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved the name change of the COVID-19 Vaccine Astrazeneca to VAXZEVRIA. See TGA Media Release for details.
This name change will be reflected in the October Drug Update where COVID-19 ASTRAZENECA CHADOX1-S will be updated to VAXZEVRIA (COVID-19 AZ).
Pharmacists will need to search ‘VAXZEVRIA’ in the drug search screen instead of ‘COVID’ after the October update.
MIMS Drug Interaction
The October release of Fred Dispense includes MIMS Drug Interaction functionality using MIMS Integrated.
MIMS Integrated provides rapid access to a range of highly sophisticated knowledge bases that can identify when a medicine will interact with the patient’s current medications.
MIMS Integrated is just what every health professional needs:
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Independent, high quality information
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Internationally referenced
MIMS Integrated gives pharmacists the ability to make critical treatment decisions with today’s vast range of medicines, with confidence, every step of the way.
Is MIMS Drug Interaction the same as eMIMS?
No.
MIMS Drug Interaction is a single module within MIMS Integrated that Fred Dispense has integrated with. The Drug Interactions module warns healthcare providers if drugs being used by a patient or prescribed to a patient may interact with each other.
eMIMS is a software application for pharmacists that contains drug information and Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) documents. There is no change to the functionality of eMIMS from the Fred Dispense toolbar.
Pharmacies will still need to pay for their own subscription in order to access eMIMS.
Checking for Drug Interactions
In Fred Dispense, drug interactions are checked using MIMS in the following areas:
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After searching for and selecting a drug
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When picking a repeat
The Patient History (as displayed in F2) is checked for any interacting medications previously dispensed and if an interaction is found, Fred Dispense opens the MIMS Interactions screen.
Example: Severe interaction
Example: Moderate Interaction
The MIMS interactions will display instead of the previous drug interactions, by using the unique drug identifiers - AMT codes. If a drug does not have an AMT code then it will not be included in the interaction check.
Interaction Notifications
The interactions are displayed in order of severity. Interaction levels as set by MIMS are:
1 = Severe
2 = Moderate
3 = Minor
4 = Caution
Example: The screenshot below indicates the Warfarin sodium interaction with the Amoxicillin group, which displays a Severe interaction level. Within this interaction, there were multiple Amoxicillin prescriptions dispensed which are ordered by date. If the exact item was dispensed multiple times, they are grouped under the one listing.
Interaction totals are summarised at the bottom of the Fred Dispense:
QScript and Fred Dispense for Queensland Pharmacies
QScript real-time prescription monitoring system will be available to access from 27 September 2021.
From 28 October 2021, it will be mandatory to check QScript prior to writing or dispensing a prescription for a medicine monitored through the system. For more information, refer to Real-time reporting of monitored medicines on the Queensland Health website.
Get Started with QScript
Step 1: Register
Queensland pharmacies must first register with the Queensland Health .
Step 2: Activate
Once the registration process is complete, activate Real Time Prescription Monitoring (RTPM) in Fred Dispense.
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Select Setup > eHealth Configuration > RTPM Configuration.
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Select the Activate Real Time Prescription Monitoring checkbox.
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Click Save.
Step 3: Dispense
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When you dispense S8 or Queensland monitored medicines, you may be prompted to enter the patient's Date of Birth. If the selected patient’s date of birth is already recorded, you will not be prompted. See Providing Date of Birth when Dispensing S8 Drugs for details.
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QScript returns a notification when you navigate to the Pharmacist initials field. See RTPM notifications when dispensing.
For more information, refer to Real Time Prescription Monitoring (RTPM) and Fred Dispense.
Check on Service Performance Status
Our platforms are continuously monitored for outages and performance issues. Should there be any interruptions in service—for example to MedView Flow, we’ll provide status updates on the Service Performance Status page of our website.
This Month's PBS Changes
For the full Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits, go to the PBS website at http://www.pbs.gov.au/ where you can search the schedule by drug name.
For your convenience, we've also uploaded a printable summary of this month's important PBS changes to this site.
For Highly Specialised Drugs (HSD) items (CAR and non-CAR), please refer to the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits as well as Services Australia to confirm whether the PBS item code for a HSD is eligible to be dispensed and claimed by your pharmacy type.
Check out Fred Dispense Plus
Talk to us about upgrading today! Contact your state representative or call 1800 888 828
With a strong focus on delivering smarter, faster and safer features tailored to community pharmacy Fred Dispense Plus delivers all the classic features you love plus more.