ScriptCheckSA for South Australian Prescribers

What is ScriptCheckSA?

ScriptCheckSA is the new Real Time Prescription Monitoring (RTPM) system, built in accordance with the Government of South Australia's 2018 commitment to implementing an RTPM system by early 2021.

This system is designed to provide doctors with up-to-date information about a patient's history of prescribed monitored medicines. ScriptCheckSA aims to assist practitioners over South Australia in identifying at risk patients, minimise doctor shopping, and ensure patients are receiving the best possible care.

As part of this initiative, starting from 1 November 2020 electronic records made for monitored drugs must be reported to the Drugs of Dependence Unit (DDU) in accordance with the changes to the Controlled Substances (Poisons) Regulations 2011.

Will ScriptCheckSA work with Gentu?

ScriptCheckSA requires Prescription Exchange Software (PES) to transmit records for monitored drugs in real-time. This functionality is not yet available in Gentu, however it is expected to be rolled out in 2021. This means that you will need to provide monthly reports regarding your prescribing.

We are working on an interim solution to support your reporting requirements ahead of the first being due on December 7, 2020. This will ensure you can submit monthly reports to the DDU by the 7th day of each month. We will have an update on the details of this solution shortly.

Update: December 3, 2020

To ensure the data provided to the DDU maintains patient confidentiality and does not contain unnecessary personally identifiable information (PII), there have been some delays on adding an interim solution to Gentu. We have been in discussion with the DDU and have confirmed that all Gentu users will be granted an extension for this reporting until December 20, 2020. There should not be any action required on your behalf for this extension.

Instructions on what to include in your monthly returns and where to send it can be found in the below document:

Update: December 21, 2020

On December 18, Gentu released its ScriptCheckSA export, which will allow you to export a list of patients who were prescribed certain medications. This report can be accessed via the Patient List if your State is set as "SA". For more information, please see our Knowledgebase page for Exporting the Patient List.

• Monthly Pharmacy Drugs of Dependence Returns - PDF

Who can I contact for more information?

If you would like to speak directly to the team behind this initiative in the Government of South Australia, you can contact the Drugs of Dependence Unit by phone or email for more information.