Creating an ePrescription

This article explains how to create and submit an electronic prescription (ePrescription) using the eRx integration in HealthTrack.

ePrescribing must be configured before you can create ePrescriptions. If you haven’t set this up yet, see the ePrescribing & Health Identifier Service Setup article.

Before You Start

To create an ePrescription, you need:

Health Identifiers configured for your location and providers
eRx set up for the prescribing provider
An active MIMS subscription
The patient’s IHI (Individual Healthcare Identifier) validated within the last 24 hours

The patient’s IHI is automatically re-validated when their booking status is changed to Arrived, or when changes are saved to their Medicare number, DVA number, or IHI on the Demographic tab.

Verifying a Patient’s IHI

If the patient’s IHI hasn’t been validated recently, you’ll see a Check for IHI button when starting a prescription. You can also verify it manually beforehand:

Open the patient’s Demographic screen and select the Additional tab.
Click the Verify button next to the IHI field.
HealthTrack will search for and validate the patient’s IHI using their existing details.

If the IHI cannot be validated, an error message will appear and the IHI will not be stored. The prescription type will default to Paper until the IHI is resolved.

Creating the Prescription

Navigate to the patient’s Clinical Summary tab.
Open the prescribing module as you normally would to create a new prescription.
In the Medication Details section, select Electronic as the prescription type.
Search for and select the medication, then fill in the prescription details (dose, quantity, repeats, etc.) as normal.
Add any additional medications to the same script if needed.
Click the Prescribe button to proceed to the preview.

How the Prescription Type is Selected

HealthTrack remembers the last prescription type used for each patient. If the previous prescription was Electronic, it will default to Electronic for the next one, regardless of which doctor issued it.

The type will automatically fall back to Paper if:

The current prescriber is not configured for ePrescribing
The patient’s IHI has not been verified in the last 24 hours

Previewing and Submitting

After clicking Prescribe, the Electronic Prescription Preview screen appears. This shows all the information that will be sent to eRx.

Choose How to Deliver the Token

At the top of the preview, select how the patient will receive their prescription token. At least one option must be selected for each item:

Option	Description
Email token	Sends the token to the patient’s email address from their Demographic record.
SMS token	Sends the token to the patient’s mobile number from their Demographic record.
Print token	Prints a paper token with a QR code. This is not a paper prescription — it’s a scannable token the pharmacist uses to retrieve the ePrescription.

If multiple medications are on the same script, delivery options are set per item. Use the navigation to review each item before submitting.

The patient’s MySL (My Script List) status is also shown on this screen. If the patient has a MySL, the prescription will be available for pharmacists to dispense from it — unless the patient has opted out.

Submit the Prescription

Review the prescription details on the preview screen.
Click the Submit button in the bottom-right corner.
HealthTrack will display real-time status messages as the prescription is processed.

The submission goes through these stages:

Stage	What’s happening
Preparing prescription	HealthTrack retrieves a new identifier from eRx.
Waiting for PDS Acknowledgement	The prescription has been sent to eRx and is awaiting confirmation.
Transmitting token	eRx has acknowledged the prescription. The token is being delivered via your selected method(s).
Token Transmission Complete	The prescription has been successfully submitted and the token delivered.

You can press the Abort button at any time before receiving the eRx confirmation to cancel the submission.

Automatic Paper Fallback

If the eRx acknowledgement takes longer than 15 seconds, HealthTrack will automatically cancel the electronic prescription and create a paper prescription instead. Where possible, this will be a paper prescription with an eRx barcode so it can still be tracked electronically.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
"Electronic" option is not visible	ePrescribing may not be enabled for this provider. Check that the provider has an eRx Entity ID configured and the "Doctor can electronically prescribe" checkbox is selected in their Internal MO settings.
"Check for IHI" button appears	The patient’s IHI hasn’t been validated in the last 24 hours. Click the button to validate it, or check their Demographic > Additional tab.
IHI validation fails	The patient’s details in HealthTrack may not match the Health Identifiers Service. Verify their Medicare number, name, sex, and date of birth are correct.
Prescription falls back to paper	The eRx service may be temporarily unavailable, or the acknowledgement timed out. Try again, or contact HealthTrack Support if the issue persists.