Health Dept grants second eNRMC extension, avoiding aged care prescribing chaos

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has extended the grace period for non-electronic prescribing conformant vendors to operate and remain on the Transitional eNRMC Conformance Register under 1 December 2025.

Sector peak Ageing Australia – which had been advocating for relief – welcomed the move and said further extensions could follow if required.

This decision is in response to concerns raised by the aged care sector about workload impacts to residential aged care homes and clinicians caused by significantly delayed conformance by a small number of eNRMC providers.

There are 10 products listed on the Transitional eNRMC conformance register, 8 of which have now  achieved conformance with electronic prescribing requirements.

eNRMC vendors have been operating under a temporary arrangement since 2022 while aligning with national standards. Conformance was originally due by 1 October 2025, then pushed to 21 October 2025 to give services time to renew charts and set up alternative prescribing. This second extension provides a longer runway to maintain continuity of care while vendors complete upgrades.

Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson said the extension spares providers from scrambling to fix an issue “not of their making.”

“We’re pleased the Department has listened… the extension means providers using Telstra Health’s MedPoint software do not have to take emergency action this year,” he said. “We’ve also conveyed our frustration with how this was handled – the lack of communication with providers was not good enough – and we’re working to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Leecare’s Platinum6 solution remains the first eNRMC to achieve full compliance.

A list of vendors who have achieved electronic prescribing conformance can be found on the Australian Digital Health Agency’s electronic prescribing conformance register.