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eNRMC FAQs

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  1. What is an eNRMC?
    An Electronic National Residential Medication Chart (eNRMC) is a legally approved electronic medication chart used in residential aged care. It allows you to prescribe, pharmacies to dispense and claim PBS medicines, and aged care staff to administer medicines — all from a single electronic chart.

  2. Do I still need to write separate PBS prescriptions?
    No, when you prescribe within an eNRMC, a chart‑based electronic prescription is automatically generated and sent to the National Prescription Delivery Service (NPDS). No separate paper or community electronic prescription is required.

  3. How long is an eNRMC valid for?
    An eNRMC is valid for up to 6 months from the date the first PBS medicine is prescribed.
    Key points:

    • Charts can start and end on any date (not end of month)

    • All medication orders/barcodes and prescriptions cease when the chart expires

    • You must review the resident and create a new chart at least every 6 months

  4. Why I can’t create electronic scripts in MediMap, even though I can see on the top left that the medication chart is an electronic medication chart?
    The most common reason is because the resident does not have a valid and active IHI. If that is the case, ask for your aged care facility to fix that.
    Another possibility is that the medication was added as: “for administration only”.

  5. What medicines can be prescribed for the full chart duration?
    For non‑Schedule 8 PBS medicines (including unrestricted, restricted and Authority Required streamlined items):

    • Medicines can be prescribed for the full chart duration (up to 6 months), for that use the option “ongoing” when selecting repeats. Pharmacies may supply multiple times during the chart, as needed, to give effect to the treatment.

  6. What is different for Schedule 8 (S8) medicines?
    Schedule 8 medicines cannot automatically run for the full chart duration.
    Rules to note:

    • By default, S8 medicines are single‑supply only

    • Ongoing S8 treatment requires a PBS authority approval for increased supply

    • State and territory S8 requirements still apply

  7. What if I am getting an error when adding a medication and I can’t see a barcode yet?
    This should not happen often, as NPS should be available and reliable. But if that is the case you have two options:

    • If there is an urgency for pharmacy to dispense that medication, dismiss the request for an electronic prescription and issue a paper script

    • Wait for it to process and check later if barcode is present

  8. What happens if a resident returns from hospital with prescriptions?
    If prescriptions were generated outside the eNRMC (e.g. hospital discharge):

    • A pharmacist may record them as administration‑only orders to allow safe administration. These records do not create PBS prescriptions and cannot be used for supply.

  9. What happens when an eNRMC expires?
    When a chart expires:

    • All medication orders/barcodes and prescriptions cease automatically

    • No further administration, supply or prescribing can occur from that chart

    • A new chart must be created to continue treatment

    • MediMap will alert users before expiry, as per normal

  10. Does this change my workload compared to Transitional eNRMC?
    Yes — in a few important ways:

    • The chart is no longer the sole authority for PBS supply

    • PBS rules apply per prescription, not per chart

    • Some medicines (e.g. S8s) will require more frequent re‑prescribing

    However, this is offset by:

    • 6‑month chart duration

    • No end‑of‑month renewals

    • No duplicate PBS prescriptions

  11. Who can prescribe using an eNRMC?
    Any approved PBS prescriber, acting within scope and jurisdictional rules, including:

    • Medical practitioners

    • Nurse practitioners

    • Participating dentists

    • Authorised optometrists

    • Authorised midwives
       

 

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