New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority has recently announced the first approved electronic controlled drug register in the country.

Developed by local company Toniq, the register is the first of its kind to be accepted for use in New Zealand pharmacies.

Based on a media release, the digital register integrates with a dispensing system to help maintain accurate oversight of the number and type of drugs in storage. 

"The register proved well equipped to handle users’ requirements and received good feedback from participating pharmacists," shared Associate Health Minister David Seymour, who welcomed Medsafe's clearance.

In a separate statement, Toniq said it is preparing for a rollout of its solution to "over 850 pharmacies."

WHY IT MATTERS

New Zealand pharmacies are mainly keeping records of high-risk controlled drugs, such as opioids and medicinal cannabis, in physical paper-based registers, which "can take considerable work to maintain," said Seymour. 

This first approval of a digital register for controlled drugs is expected to "[increase] efficiency in pharmacies by allowing pharmacists to focus on patients instead of administrative tasks like manual record-keeping."

"It's great to see pharmacists gaining access to a resource that can help manage their administrative duties. I know these tasks can be time-consuming, and given our already stretched health system, I want to make sure they are able to focus on only the most vital tasks," the associate minister said.

THE LARGER TREND

The Digital Health Association hopes the first approval of the electronic register is a "reversal of the clamp-down on digital technologies’ funding that started in Budget 2024." "Maybe we have turned a corner and digital health technologies are back on the government’s agenda," said association chair Tony Wai. 

In 2022, the New government expanded the coverage of the New Zealand e-Prescription Service, allowing prescribers to provide e-scripts for controlled drugs. Previously, prescribers had to provide a signed, hard copy of any prescription for a controlled drug. 

Meanwhile, Te Whatu Ora developed a FHIR-based API providing access to medicine information from the Medicines Data Repository as part of the first phase of the now-paused Hira project.