A pair of Ontario family doctors say they'll have to go back to sending patient prescriptions to pharmacies by fax because a federally funded agency is doing away with an efficient electronic system, with no clear plans for its replacement.

The software allows doctors to instantly send drug prescriptions to pharmacies and approve prescription renewal requests with a click of a mouse. The system brings up the renewal request in an electronic prompt attached to each patient's health record.

It's a crucial tool because Bolzon said he receives up to 35 prescription renewal requests in a typical day while also handling about 30 daily in-person appointments.

So if PrescribeIT is helping doctors manage their patient loads and there's no clear replacement in place, why pull the plug?

In a statement to CBC News, Canada Health Infoway said they worked with governments and system providers to keep PrescribeIT operating. However, the statement said there was no shared funding model and "no viable model emerged that would support the continued operation of a single national service over the long term."

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[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 hours ago

We're dealing with a healthcare crisis. It doesn't make sense for Carney's governments to stop funding a program that is working. It might make sense if there was a replacement, but there isn't.

The statement said the goal is to create a publicly available national standard for electronic prescribing and that the standard "will be made publicly available" on May 1, just 28 days before PrescribeIT is shut down. The statement said this will allow other vendors to adopt that standard.

...

"Doctors who are already dealing with an insane amount of administration and bureaucracy had welcomed this alternative to it, and now, with very little notice and no communication, they're being told they're going to lose that."