Australia’s first national electronic prescription system has moved a step closer following the release of updated draft specifications. The suite of documents plans for a national framework and will be available for public comment until 15 October 2010.The latest release expands on previous versions in three key areas, extending the transfer of prescriptions to a wider range of care settings including hospitals and residential care facilities, and addressing instances where the medications are supplied based on informal instruction from a prescriber before a formal prescription (owing script) is provided. It also introduces the transfer of fully electronic prescriptions signed with a prescriber’s digital signature.

Can’t do the housework because it makes you sneeze?  Do you sometimes get a bit of gastro?  Perhaps your skin is itchy or you occasionally have trouble breathing.  If so, your symptoms may be caused by things commonly found in your home or garden.  Then again you could be one of the 5-10% of the population  who suffers from food intolerance, or maybe it’s all in your head.