VICDOC Winter 2022 - Magazine - Page 32
THE POLICY DESK
Key to the Government’s
response is WorkSafe expanding
its newly established Claims and
Recovery Support team to focus
on dedicated and specialised
interventions for more complex
claims (which is to say, WorkSafe
will be directly involved in
the management of complex
claims, with independent agents
retaining jurisdiction over those
deemed less complex).
AMA Victoria’s WorkSafe/
Transport Accident Commission
(TAC) Committee has since
met with WorkSafe to discuss
its preliminary views on
the Victorian Government’s
response. To this end, the
Committee expressed its
willingness to continue to
engage with WorkSafe,
particularly by contributing
towards the definition of
“complex” cases, and any
potential 13 week reporting
requirement for medical
practitioners when providing
updates on complexity.
EMAIL AND FAX
TRANSMISSION OF
PAPER PRESCRIPTIONS
––
AMA Victoria has recently
written to the Victorian
Department of Health to
formally request that it seek
amendment to regulation
25 of the Drugs, Poisons
and Controlled Substances
Regulations 2017 to enable
prescribers to be able to provide
an instruction by email or
fax for the supply of certain
medications in emergency
situations, in addition to the
option for a verbal instruction.
In the letter, we relayed to the
Department that a substantial
number of members, particularly
32
AMA VI C TO RIA
non-GP specialists in private
practice, have been impacted by
the inability of several software
providers to have expeditiously
implemented ePrescribing.
Furthermore, we noted that
the repeal of Public Health
Emergency Order #4 in March
2022 has meant that these
members have been unable to
provide instruction via email or
fax for pharmacists to supply
certain medications.
Our argument in seeking
amendment to the regulation
was that, in emergency
situations, email or fax often
provides a benefit over a verbal
instruction by allowing the
correct medication/dosage
to be most clearly displayed,
leading to improved patient
safety. Verbal instructions can
be rushed or misinterpreted
in emergency situations, and
mistakes have been known to
be made.
It is also our understanding
that instruction via email or
fax in emergency situations is
permitted in other jurisdictions,
notably New South Wales. We
conveyed to the Department that,
to the extent possible, we should
strive for interjurisdictional
harmonisation in this area.
For more information:
Image-based prescribing
arrangements to cease
31 March 2022 Communications
and Advocacy Update: 21 April.
SUPPORT FOR HEALTH
LEGISLATION AMENDMENT
(INFORMATION
SHARING) BILL
––
AMA Victoria has recently
contacted several influential
members of the Victorian
crossbench expressing
our support for the Health
Legislation Amendment
(Information Sharing) Bill
(currently being debated in the
Victorian Legislative Council) and
opposing any attempts to amend
the Bill by allowing patients to
‘opt-out’ of the system.
For background on the
legislation, please see: #240
Feedback wanted: Health
information sharing legislation
(amavic.com.au)
As we noted to crossbench
MPs, in expressing our support
for the Bill as currently
drafted, we are in no way
diminishing privacy concerns,
particularly for mental health
and reproductive health records.
But we do need to acknowledge
the current circumstances as
comparator; it is a reality that
patients’ health information
is already stored in hackable
databases or manila folders by
individual health services, and
data in the proposed model
would be ring-fenced with the
strictest of protections.
As currently drafted, it is our
belief that the Bill will greatly
improve the ability to connect
health information across
our public healthcare system,
which will reduce the burden on
patients having to remember
their past medical history. This
will allow clinicians to start
treatment sooner. It will reduce
the number of unnecessary
tests and investigations and
reduce the risk of medication
errors. Indeed, in an emergency,
medical teams would be
positioned to very swiftly learn
what conditions and medications
their patients have, which could
be lifesaving.