EPS Update - Changes to EPS

HSCIC have releases an EPS bulletin.  You can view it by clicking here. 

Two important areas you may wish to be aware of are below.
 


Coming soon... Cancellation enhancement
 
From late January 2016 an enhancement will be made to EPS to improve the prescription cancellation processes.
Currently, when a prescriber wants to cancel a prescription or prescribed item, if the prescription has already been downloaded by a dispenser, the cancellation will be unsuccessful and flagged as ‘cancellation pending’. The prescription or prescribed item will only be cancelled if the dispenser returns the item to the EPS. The patient's medication record can then be updated.
The enhancement means that the subsequent cancellation response message will now also be sent if a prescription or prescribed item, which is flagged as ‘cancellation pending’, is recorded as 'not dispensed' by the dispenser.
This change will improve the accuracy of the patient medical record within the prescriber's system. More prescribed items which are flagged as ‘cancellation pending’ will be confirmed as cancelled. This will reduce the ambiguity over whether the patient did or did not receive prescribed medication that the prescriber requested to be cancelled.
This change will allow the dispenser to dispense and claim for other medication on a prescription where one or more items on the prescription needed to be cancelled. It removes the need for a dispenser to request a replacement prescription, saving time for both the prescriber and dispenser.
 
 
Coming soon... Changes to Electronic repeat dispensing

From February 2016, a change will be made to the repeat dispensing logic, which will ensure that the timing of each repeat dispensing issue aligns with the frequency that the prescriber originally intended. The change will remove the need for a dispense notification to be sent before the automatic countdown to the next issue can begin.Currently, the countdown to the next issue of a repeat prescription doesn’t begin until a dispense notification has been issued. This can delay the automatic download of future repeat prescriptions from the Spine, resulting in items not being available for patients in time.
A dispense notification must still be sent as soon as possible, but this will not delay the start of the automatic countdown to the next issue.
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Although EPS is already widely liked by prescribers, dispensers and patients there are improvements that can be made.  Here is a roundup of some of the enhanced features and improvements coming soon.
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