Pharmacy software vendor links to TGA adverse event reporting web service

GuildLink is the first company to provide an integrated link to the TGA's new adverse event reporting web service.

GuildLink supplies Australian community pharmacy software that supports the delivery of professional health services.

Community pharmacists are valued contributors of adverse event reports and GuildLink's use of the web service will make it easier for them to make reports and contribute to the ongoing safety of medicines and vaccines in Australia.

The TGA is working with other software vendors to assist with their participation in this initiative, and invites other interested companies to get involved.

The web service is available to any company providing software to health professionals - including general practitioners, hospital and community pharmacists, specialists and nurses - at no cost.

The web service is compatible with both mobile and desktop devices.

Reports of adverse events from health professionals are essential to the TGA's safety monitoring activities as they assist with early detection of potential safety problems and allow the TGA to manage any risks associated with therapeutic goods. Feedback to the TGA indicates that the time required to report is a significant barrier to reporting by health professionals. Providing an adverse event reporting mechanism in health professional software, particularly one that allows reports to be automatically populated from clinical record data, has been suggested as a way of reducing the time required to find, complete and send reporting forms.

The aim of the TGA's adverse event reporting web service is to complement, but not replace, the existing avenues for adverse event reporting by offering a faster and more convenient way to report.

Development of the adverse event reporting web service is one of a number of projects that the TGA is undertaking to encourage adverse event reporting by health professionals by:

• improving access to methods for reporting
• promoting the reporting system
• educating health professionals about how and why to report.

For more information about using the web service, please email ADR Reports.