How eScripts and the Active Script List work

What is an eScript?

An eScript, or electronic prescription, is a digital version of a paper script. It can be used for any medicine, anywhere in Australia, and anyone with a Medicare card, a Department of Veterans’ Affairs card or an Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI) can get one. You can still ask for a paper script if you need one.

When your doctor writes an eScript, you get a token by SMS or email: a link to a QR code that unlocks the prescription. Each medicine has its own token, so check you’ve received them all before you leave the appointment.

How do I fill an eScript?

Take the token to a pharmacy that accepts electronic prescriptions, which most community pharmacies do. The pharmacist scans the QR code, which unlocks your prescription from a secure delivery service, and dispenses your medicine.

You don’t have to go in person:

• Send it ahead. Forward the token to the pharmacy so your medicine is ready when you arrive, or delivered, if the pharmacy delivers.
• Send someone else. Forward the token to a family member, carer or friend, and they can collect the medicine for you.

Once you have the medicine, delete the token you used.

How do repeats work?

If your script has repeats, the pharmacy sends you a new token, by SMS or email, for the next one. Use that token when you need more medicine, at the same pharmacy or a different one.

If you lose or delete a token, ask for it to be sent again. For an original script, contact the prescriber who wrote it. For a repeat, contact the pharmacy that sent you the repeat’s token.

An eScript lasts as long as a paper script would: usually 12 months, though it can be shorter for some medicines, and state and territory laws can affect it.

What is the Active Script List?

The Active Script List (ASL) keeps all your electronic prescriptions in one place, so you don’t have to keep track of separate tokens. It also shows barcoded paper scripts, though you still need to take the paper script itself to the pharmacy.

To set one up:

1. Go to a pharmacy with your mobile phone and 100 points of ID. (Your prescriber can also register you; signing yourself up in an app isn’t available yet.)
2. Once you’re registered, every eScript you’re given is added to your list. You can ask your doctor to leave a medicine off it, and you can still ask for tokens as well.
3. At a participating pharmacy, give the staff your consent to see your list, and they can dispense your medicines without a token.

The list is useful if you take several medicines, see doctors by telehealth or use more than one pharmacy. You can view and manage it in apps that support the ASL, including the government’s 1800MEDICARE app; ask your pharmacy for a linking code to connect one. To stop a pharmacy seeing your list, or to close it, email the Active Script List Registry at info@medicationknowledge.com.au.

Can I use any pharmacy?

Yes. An eScript isn’t tied to the pharmacy you used last time: any pharmacy that accepts electronic prescriptions can fill it, and each repeat’s token can go to a different one. With an Active Script List, each pharmacy you use needs your consent to see it.

That makes it easy to fill a script wherever you happen to be, including late at night. Find pharmacies near you, check 24-hour pharmacies in Australia, or browse pharmacies by state.