September 2001 issue Pharmacy Today magazine
PRIMENET GLITCH
The search is on to replace a service provider, which pulled out of a contract, delaying the launch of Primenet's secure network.
Primenet is now working with other telecommunications providers to find the best alternative to connect pharmacy to the high-speed secure network.
Primenet is a secure patient and budget management intranet, designed for the medical community and launched last year. The Pharmacy Guild and the Manawatu Community Pharmacy Group pioneered the project.
The supplier had been contracted to TelstraSaturn to provide access for 83% of New Zealand pharmacies to Telstra's wireless network.
Primenet's information technology partner, Palmerston North-based Ignite Holdings had negotiated favourable rates to clients based on the contract. The supplier discovered its calculations failed to stand-up and defaulted from the contract.
Primenet's general manager Muir Hutchinson says the glitch will mean a delay of at least another month but negotiations with other providers are progressing quickly.
The main challenge in launching the network has been to find a way of providing access beyond the main centres where existing broadband services are limited, he says.
