The ACCC has issued a final determination granting authorisation to eRx Script Exchange Pty Ltd to continue to give effect to an interoperability arrangement that involves revenue sharing with IP MDS Pty Ltd until 30 June 2020.
The parties operate prescription exchange systems (software that communicates electronic prescription information between doctors and pharmacies). The revenue sharing arrangement, which applies only to a 15 cent fee received from the Government when a prescription is written on one system but filled on the other, is necessary for the parties to operate their systems interoperably. This allows patients with an electronic prescription to get their medicine from any pharmacy, even if the pharmacist and doctor don’t use the same prescription exchange system.