
Electronic prescriptions
A convenient alternative to paper prescriptions.
What is an electronic prescription?
An electronic prescription is a digital version of a paper prescription. During your consultation, your healthcare provider can send your electronic prescription to you as an SMS or email.
What are the benefits?
All medicines can be prescribed using an electronic prescription. The message with a link to your electronic prescription is stored on your digital device, so you can access it whenever you’re ready - saving you time, streamlining the process and improving medicine safety.
Over one million original and repeat electronic prescriptions have been issued already
How to get an electronic prescription
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During your consultation your doctor will send your electronic prescription to you as an SMS or an email
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You will then take it to your pharmacy or send it to them
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If you have repeats, a new SMS or email will be sent to you when you get your medicine from the pharmacy
How to get your medicines
After your consultation and once you have received your electronic prescription, you will have two options to get your medicines.
Collecting your medicine in person
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Take your electronic prescription to a pharmacy so it can be scanned
Getting your medicine delivered
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For home delivery, forward the SMS or email to a pharmacy so they can scan it

Rolling out in 2021
A list of all your electronic prescriptions and repeats
A solution is being developed for people who want their electronic prescriptions consolidated in a list. This will remove the need to keep track of all the SMS or emails from your doctor or pharmacist.
How it will work
- Visit a pharmacy to set up your list.
- If your doctor needs to prescribe medicine, you can choose an electronic prescription and it will be automatically added to your list, unless you ask your doctor not to add it. You can still get an SMS or email as well.
- Go to your pharmacy, forward the SMS or email to them or call them to validate your ID so that they can access your list and dispense your medicine.
If needed, you can forward the SMS or email to a family member or carer so they can collect your medicine