The better medication management system. Implications for Australian general practice.

BACKGROUND The Better Medication Management System (BMMS) is a national initiative to use information technology to bring together the fragmented medication record systems currently used in Australian health care. OBJECTIVE This article provides a brief outline of the BMMS and some of its implications for Australia's general practitioners and their patients. DISCUSSION The BMMS has the potential to assist in achieving significantly better health outcomes by providing current information to assist prescribing and dispensing decisions and by promoting more informed medication management partnerships between consumers and their doctors and pharmacists.