About Us

“…A healthy population and an efficient and effective health care system are essential to maximising the wellbeing of our nation, and the productivity of our economy and workforce.”
A healthier future for all Australians: National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission 2009

At PharmRx, we believe medication safety is key to an efficient and effective health care system. Much of our health budget is being absorbed by the cost of avoidable medication errors – money that could be better spent investing in improving patient care.

Our focus is to improve medication safety in homes and health care facilities across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. PharmRx offers a portfolio of global products to ensure safe and accurate medication administration and dispensing across both the institutional and community care sectors.

Remembering which medication to take and what time to take it can challenge even the most organised of people. But for those of us in the later stages of life, often with multiple medications, managing our medicines can be a daunting task. How often have you (or someone you love) asked yourself, ‘did I take my pills this morning?’ Have you ever missed a dose and wondered whether you should take morning and afternoon dose together? Have you needed to visit your GP or hospital because you made a mistake with your medicines?

  • Medication is most effective when taken as prescribed – the right dose at the right time.
  • As many as 80% of patients miss a dose of prescribed medication.
  • In Australia alone, it is estimated that more than 230,000 hospital admissions annually – at a cost in excess of AU$1.2 billion –  are related to taking too much or not enough medicine or taking the wrong medicine*.
  • 40% of patients move to residential aged care primarily because they are unable to manage their own medication*.

* https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/media_releases/australia-joins-international-push-to-halve-medication-errors/

PharmRx is bringing the world’s best in-home and institutional medication innovations to this region to address medication safety. These exciting products improve the accuracy of medication delivery, can tell you when to take your medicines, deliver only the required pills, can provide information on how to take the medicines, and can even message your family or medical professional to alert them if there’s a problem. These products are easy to use, can integrate with other products and are designed with older people’s needs in mind, especially those with health challenges like dementia and/or memory issues.

We at PharmRx researched the different medication administration and packaging models globally. This included an in-depth review across all the sectors, Home Care, Assisted Living and institutional Aged and Hospital Care.

A globally recognised language for the secure administration of medication is known as the 9R’s. The products we have reviewed and now offer to Australia and surrounding regions were selected on the importance and delivery of the 9R’s within any care environment. These 9R’s include:

  • 1. Right patient – This right is self-evident. The medication must be administered to the patient for whom it is prescribed. Patient identity must be confirmed using a minimum of two facility approved identifiers.
  • 2. Right drug – Administration of the correct drug. This requires careful review of the medication because many medications have similar names.
  • 3. Right route – Administration of medication using the prescribed route.
  • 4. Right time – Administration of medication at the correct time to ensure therapeutic serum levels. Facility policies for acceptable administration windows must be followed.
  • 5. Right dose – Ensuring that the prescribed dose is accurately transcribed and administered. Nurses also have a responsibility to ensure that the dose is within the appropriate dose range.
  • 6. Right documentation – Timely and accurate documentation of medication administration as outlined by facility policy.
  • 7. Right action – It is important to understand the rationale for the medications prescribed. If the medication ordered is incongruent to the patient’s diagnosis and rationale for its use is not apparent, it is appropriate to gather more information prior to administration.
  • 8. Right form – Administration of the medication in the appropriate form (i.e. liquid versus tablet).
  • 9. Right response – This right of medication administration involves an evaluation of the effectiveness of the medication’s intended purpose through patient assessment and monitoring.

These products are split into three categories: