Printers from the 1970s have finally been replaced in GP surgeries in the Republic of Ireland.
Digital Health reported that Irish GPs will be able to print e-prescriptions before Christmas with new laser printers. Richard Corbridge, CEO of e-health Ireland said that “GPs want to get rid of these old printers and the pharmacists are enthused about the removal of manual entry”. GP suppliers, Clanwilliam Health and the government agency have co-operated to provide the system and new printers, as previously patients would take a printout of their prescription to the pharmacist.
They would then have to enter the information on their own system. With the new technology, this will be sent automatically straight from the GP’s office to the pharmacy, so that prescriptions will be ready to pick up when the patient arrives. Information will be securely sent over Healthlink, a national health IT data and messaging system. Patients will still have a paper copy of their prescription with a barcode that can be scanned when they pick up their medication and GPs will still need to sign these.