Congratulations Australia. In 2020 in the year of COVID-19, widespread lockdowns, quarantine and MBS-funded telehealth, legalised ePrescriptions have finally arrived. It is a major achievement that should not be underestimated, but there are lingering issues with workflow, safety and privacy that still need to be resolved.

The road to legal ePrescriptions has been long and winding but it has not been a technical or software journey alone. It has required persistent lobbying from the healthcare sector with changes required in legislation at both a federal and jurisdictional level, including changes to the PBS dispensing rules. Governments of all ilks have been risk averse and have consequently been slow to embrace the available solutions.