Healthdirect meets consumers’ need for medicines information

Healthdirect Australia’s online medicines information service is the most comprehensive medicines catalogue available in this country, listing more than 7,500 brand medicines and more than 2,000 medicinal products, filling an important gap for consumers looking for information about medicines online.

The consumer-friendly service aims to reduce confusion about and potential misuse of medicines, including taking multiple medications, by making information easy to understand and readily searchable.

The medicines pages on the healthdirect website receive 5 million sessions a year from those looking to better understand their medicine. Most of those that visit the medicines information page stay on the website to look for further information and advice about their health.

Trusted information on products and safety advice

The service provides details of specific categories of medicines, the differences between generic and brand name products, and safety advice for when taking medicines. An online Opioid Risk Indicator allows consumers to assess their risk of developing a problem with opioid use.

Australians can easily access information from overseas health and medicines websites but regulatory, legal and clinical conditions in other countries are different from Australia. The medicines information service provides access to safe, reliable, up-to-date, local information about medicines, supporting people’s health literacy and ability to safely and confidently manage their own health.

The information is important since more than half of all medicines listed by the TGA do not have a Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) leaflet. These are mostly over the counter, self-administered medications, such as paracetamol. Of the 9,000 medicine brand pages on our site, only 4,000 have CMIs, and so the service fills an important gap for consumers who want access to information about how to use these medicines safely.

The pages, which are updated monthly, include:

• specific information for particular groups, such as veterans and military personnel who hold DVA GOLD, Orange or White cards, seniors and pregnant women;
• a description of the medicine and its form (tablet, capsule, ointment, cream or injection);
• a link to the CMI leaflet, which describes potential side effects;
• details of age restrictions, how the medicines should be stored, how they should be administered, whether there have been any recalls, and whether a medicine is subsidised by the government on the PBS;
• whether a medicine is part of the Black Triangle Scheme, which aims to identify certain types of new prescription medicines, including those being used in new ways, and to encourage the reporting of adverse events associated with their use;
• links to health articles on the healthdirect website so that consumers can find more information — which they can understand — about a condition; and
• a link to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), where consumers can report adverse events and side effects.

This service brings together data and images from a range of trusted sources, such as the TGA, the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), the Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT), the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), Medicines Information Pty Ltd and Consumer Medicines Information leaflets.

Read more detailed information here about these data sources.