On behalf of the Commonwealth Department of Health, the Australian Digital Health Agency advises that the SMS subsidy funding currently applied to the sending of electronic prescription tokens will be further extended from 31 March 2021 to 30 June 2021. 

The Department and Agency are keen to work with the health sector to establish an ongoing model to support the provision of electronic prescriptions to consumers. To enable this consultation to occur, the extension of the SMS subsidy funding to 30 June 2021 will allow for further consideration on future funding arrangements. 

It should be noted that SMS costs are specific to the provision of electronic prescription tokens to patients on their mobile phone. Alternatives exist for prescribers and dispensers to send electronic prescriptions to patients via email or through mobile applications that do not incur these SMS costs. The Active Script List, once implemented across Australia, will also provide health professionals an option for token management that will not incur the SMS charges. Innovations across the digital landscape will undoubtedly also offer other alternatives as more digital health initiatives become a reality over time.

College support for escripts can be found here.

For more information, contact the Australian Digital Health Agency dedicated customer care team on help@digitalhealth.gov.au.