Later this year, CMIs will also be available in large print, synthetic voice audio and Braille. This project is being undertaken with Vision Australia and is partially funded by AusIndustry through an ICIP Grant. It is drawing from the experience of Datapharm and the Royal National Institute for the Blind Society who are undertaking a similar project in the UK.

As Australia’s population ages, the use of pharmaceutical products rapidly increases; associated with this is the increased risk of medication errors. A study conducted in the early 1990’s, estimated that adverse medication events accounted for 80,000 hospitalisations per annum and cost the health system ~$350 million a year4. Amongst the most common causes of medication errors are poor communication between the patient and the health care professional (23%) and the patient’s lack of understanding of the medicine they have been prescribed (10%)5.

One of the key means of reducing the risk of medication error is by ensuring that the patient is adequately educated and informed about their medication through the use of Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) . The current CMI electronic distribution system is restricted to a standard printed format in 10pt type. The effectiveness of this presentation format is of little value to the 3.3 million (17.5%) of Australians with print disabilities6.

This project will lead to an improvement to the visual appearance of the CMI documents, the timeliness for updating the medicine information and the accessibility of the CMI for the wider Australian public. This will be achieved through the development of specific software solutions to address the technical aspects of the project and through the formation of an industry steering committee to advise and guide aspects of the implementation of the changes.

At the completion of the project the following points will have been achieved:

• The CMI will be able to be more easily uploaded into pharmacy software vendors packages and via online services.
• CMI printing applications will support richer content. This will include diagrams/ graphics to be included in the CMI where they can significantly enhance the ability of the patient to understand how to use or apply a particular medication.
• The changes will enable more frequent updating of CMIs to ensure all dispensed CMIs are always the most up-to-date versions.
• The CMIs will be able to be provided in multiple versions, which for example, will enable large print variations to be available via pharmacy.
• Braille versions of the CMI will be available upon request for the blind.
• Synthetic audio versions of the CMI will become available to assist both the vision impaired and the partially literate members of our society.
• A steering committee will be in place which will be able to drive the implementation through the various stakeholders in the community.

Upon achievement of these objectives, Australia will become one of the leading countries internationally in the provision of consumer information on medicines.

The outcomes of this project will have positive flow on effects across a range of industries and government offices. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy software vendors, and Secure Data Warehouse suppliers will be able to virtually eliminate any lag time between making any changes to CMIs and having those changes accessible for patients:

• pharmacists will be able to offer CMIs to patients which are always up-to-date, and in a readable format, and
• for any patients who are unable to read, the pharmacists will have a point of referral for audio and Braille versions. It is also anticipated that the wider range of format options, and better print presentations for CMIs will also have a positive impact on stimulating greater distribution of the standard format of CMIs.

Additional benefits will be recognised by organisations concerned with providing care and services for the Vision impaired and others who have difficulties comprehending written material.

The medical profession will benefit through the reduction of medication errors (and the associated cost the reduction) and improved health outcomes amongst their patients.

However, the ultimate benefit will be reaped by patients – who will enjoy better health outcomes because they are better informed, and have greater access to medicine information in a timely manner and user friendly formats.

4 Second National Report on Patient Safety – Improving Medication Safety; Prepared by the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Healthcare; July 2002

5 Alice L Bhasale, Graeme C Miller, Sharon E Reid and Helena C Britt; Analysing potential harm in Australian general practice: an incident-monitoring study; MJA 1998; 169: 73-76

6 Secondary Research to Determine the Size of the National Print Disabled Audience; Market Equity Report commissioned by Radio for the Print Handicapped; http://www.rph.org.au/html/market_equity_2002.html