Doctor-shopper tracker rolls out across Victoria

GPs in Victoria have 12 months to register for the state’s real-time prescription monitoring service, which has just been rolled out statewide after a successful trial in one primary health network.

The Victorian Government has expanded SafeScript across the state to encourage GPs to register for the system before it becomes mandatory on 1 April next year.

During a trial in the Western Victorian Primary Health Network, about 4500 patients at risk of harm from overdose because of ‘doctor-shopping’ were identified across 400 test sites.

More than 7500 health professionals have already registered for SafeScript.

It was hoped “90% plus” of GPs would be on board by the time it became mandatory, according to AMA Victoria president Associate Professor Julian Rait.

Around 85% of GP software systems are now compliant with SafeScript, he said.

“We believe the system is very good. I have