Boots to start ETP trial next month
Boots The Chemists says that it will start its electronic
transfer of prescriptions trial in Peterborough in November 2001.
Boots is part of the SchlumbergerSema consortium,
together with National Co-operative Chemists, Cable & Wireless and
Microsoft. The consortium will use the name Flexiscript for its pilot
scheme.
The consortium is testing the relay model for ETP,
whereby prescriptions are sent electronically to a central server before
being called down to individual pharmacies for dispensing at the request
of patients. Prescribers can include messages for pharmacists clarifying
what is to be dispensed.
Hilary Baseley, pharmacy development manager, Boots,
told The Journal that the pilot, in the North and South Peterborough
Primary Care Trust areas, will start with three GP practices in a single
health centre and one independent community pharmacy on the same site.
It will then be rolled out to other GP practices at the health centre
that also use the same pharmacy, and subsequently to other GPs and both
independent and multiple pharmacies in Peterborough. A total of 30 pharmacies
will be involved.
Discussions are being held about a second phase
which could include the use of barcoded prescriptions and a website for
patients. This would allow patients to say where they wanted their prescriptions
dispensed, either on a regular or one-off basis.
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