Real-Time Prescription Monitoring (RTPM): Configuration & Quick Guide

Real time prescription monitoring in MediRecords helps prescribers check for risk signals before issuing monitored medicines. When you write or edit a script for S8 or other high risk items, MediRecords pings the relevant state portal based on your practice location and shows a clear status notification. You get quick color coded alerts that reflect recent prescribing and dispensing history, without leaving your workflow. If an alert requires action, a one click link takes you straight to the state portal to review the patient’s profile in more detail.

This integration supports safer care, better regulatory compliance, and fewer surprises at the pharmacy. It reduces manual lookups, highlights multiple prescriber or high dose patterns, and prevents accidental approval of risky combinations. You control access by enabling the feature in your user preferences, and you can still complete checks manually if a patient has a single name or is being seen across state lines.

MediRecords will check the relevant script monitoring portal based on the State recorded for the Practice as per the legislative requirement. The RTPM service does not currently have a national solution to cover all States within a single check. Prescribers will need to create a login for each state individually, and in the instance where a prescriber is consulting with a patient in a different State from their own, they will need to manually log into the relevant prescription monitoring portal to check for any alerts before prescribing monitored medications.

Contents:

1. What is Script Monitoring?
2. Enabling Script Monitoring
3. Using Script Monitoring
4. Coloured Alerts
   • Green Alerts
   • Amber Alerts
   • Red Alerts

What is Script Monitoring?

Each state has its own prescription monitoring system and drug list:

• SafeScript monitored Drug list (VIC)
• SafeScript monitored Drug list (NSW)
• QScript monitored Drug list (QLD)
• ScriptCheckSA (SA)
• Canberra Script (ACT)
• ScriptCheckWA
• TasScript

When prescribing, the name of the medication will be checked against the monitored drug list for that state, regardless of the drug’s Restriction or Schedule. This is to ensure that alerts are generated consistently when the monitored drug list is altered by the relevant State department. MediRecords does not own or maintain the drug list or the API used to validate the drug.

*NOTE: It is important to note that MediRecords only checks the script monitoring software based on the Practice's location, not the provider's or patient's location. We do not currently undertake a nationwide check at this time.

Enabling Script Monitoring

You will need to register for an account with SafeScript before enabling this feature in MediRecords.

1. Navigate to your user preferences - Click on the Person Icon, then click Preferences.

2. Select Prescribing > Select the check box for Real-Time Prescription Monitoring > Save.

Script Monitoring is now enabled.

*NOTE: Despite being called SafeScript, this feature will check with any state script monitoring database

Using Script Monitoring 

Script Monitoring notifications will appear when creating a prescription for S8 drugs and other high-risk medicines. Notifications will also appear when editing an existing prescription for one of these drug types under the Current Rx tab.

MediRecords will connect automatically to the relevant script monitoring database after filling out the prescription details.

For the RTPM automatic check to occur, the following fields of information are required for the patient:

• Surname
• First Name
• Date of Birth
• State
• Patients who only have one name cannot be verified using the automatic check in the RTPM API. The script monitoring portal must be checked manually for single-named patients.

Coloured Alerts

A notification will appear in the top right corner of the prescriptions window. This notification will be automatically dismissed after three seconds, or can be closed using the 'x' in the notification window.

Green

A GREEN notification will appear in the following situations:

• When there has not been a prescription issued/dispensed for a monitored medicine in the last 6 months. 
• When prescriptions for a monitored medicine in the last 6 months have been issued by the same prescriber/medical practice, and there are no alerts.

When the notification is green, prescribers/pharmacists will not be required to click on the notification to review the patient history. If you wish to, you can click directly on the script monitoring alert to be automatically directed to the relevant state's website.

Amber

An AMBER notification will appear in the following situations:

• When prescriptions for a monitored medicine in the last 6 months have been issued by more than one prescriber/medical practice, or 4 or more pharmacies.
• When the daily morphine equivalent dose (calculated based on an average over the last 90 days) is between 50mg and 100mg MED daily (i.e. a medium-risk dose).

Red

A RED notification will appear when there is a current alert relating to the prescribing/dispensing history of a patient.

These alerts are:

• Multiple provider episodes: When prescriptions from 4 or more prescribers/medical practices have been recorded in SafeScript within the last 90 days.
• High-risk drug combinations: When prescriptions for certain drug combinations have been recorded in SafeScript within the last 90 days.
  • Methadone + a benzodiazepine
  • Methadone + a long-acting opioid
  • Fentanyl + a benzodiazepine
  • Fentanyl + a long-acting opioid
• Opioid dose threshold: When the daily morphine equivalent dose (calculated based on an average over the last 90 days) exceeds 100mg MED daily (i.e. a high-risk dose).

For Amber and Red notifications, prescribers/pharmacists will be required to click on the notification to review the patient history to assess whether it is safe or appropriate to prescribe/dispense a medicine. The notifications include a URL that will open up in a new tab, which allows you to view the patient's profile in the Health Professional Portal. 

The 'Prescribe' button in MediRecords will remain greyed out until this URL is checked.

If you need further assistance, please contact support on 1300 103 903 or email support@medirecords.com