Safe prescribing guide targets Australian primary care

Researchers from Monash University and national and international partners have developed 23 Quality Prescribing Indicators for Australian primary care, aimed at safer medicine use for adults with common health conditions.

The study was published on 17 September 2026 in BMJ Quality & Safety. Monash University said Australia has not had an updated, nationally recognised set of quality prescribing indicators for primary care since 2006.

Medication-related problems add a substantial cost burden to hospitals through preventable admissions. According to Monash University, the new indicators are designed to reduce medication harm and ease pressure on the national healthcare system.

The approved indicators cover the start of treatment, ongoing monitoring, high-risk prescribing combinations and deprescribing when medicines are no longer needed. They span seven therapeutic areas: proton pump inhibitors, vaccinations, blood pressure medicines, anti-inflammatories, asthma inhalers, mental health treatments and pain relief.

Senior author Associate Professor Johnson George, from the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said the framework gives Australia a validated set of 23 indicators for primary care use by health professionals.

He said an expert panel of general practitioners, nurse practitioners and pharmacists endorsed the indicators, along with professional bodies. In his view, they offer a practical way to identify potentially inappropriate prescribing, monitor practice and support safer, more effective medicine use.

APRICOT trial to test the indicators

Next, the indicators are due to be tested in a randomised controlled trial. The trial sits within APRICOT, a Medical Research Future Fund project focused on prescribing in primary care.

Second author Anna Mackintosh, project manager at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences for the MRFF project APRICOT, said the work lays the groundwork for changes that could improve prescribing safety in Australian primary care.

Ms Mackintosh said the indicators were developed to guide safe and appropriate prescribing for common health conditions. She added that wider adoption could help health professionals prescribe more safely over time.

Monash University said the consortium built the indicators as an evidence-based guide for use across Australian primary care. The university did not disclose when the trial will begin.