PrescribeIT shutdown forces Alberta clinicians and pharmacists back to faxes
PrescribeIT ended May 29, 2026, prompting Alberta clinicians and pharmacists to return to faxes as Infoways develops a national e-prescribing standard now.
Alberta pharmacists, physicians and medical associations are scrambling after PrescribeIT, the national e-prescription service, ceased operations on May 29, 2026. The platform, created in 2018 by Canadian Health Infoways and developed by Telus, had allowed clinics and pharmacies with different software to exchange prescriptions electronically. With the service gone, many health-care providers say they are reverting to fax machines and slower manual workflows.
Service closure and who owns the software
Canadian Health Infoways announced the closure of PrescribeIT, citing insufficient national adoption to sustain a centrally operated service at scale. Telus developed the platform under contract and retains the intellectual property rights to the software after a development agreement that Infoways funded. Health officials and industry representatives say the decision leaves a gap while a new national e-prescribing standard is being drafted.
Immediate impact in pharmacies and clinics
Local pharmacists describe an abrupt operational shift since the May 29 shutdown, with prescriptions once transmitted in seconds now routed by fax or phone. Mohamoud Ahmed, manager of Windermere Pharmacy in Edmonton, said the speed and certainty of digital delivery are gone, and staff are concerned about delays and lost communications. Clinic administrators report extra administrative time confirming receipt and reconciling prescriptions that previously flowed directly into pharmacy systems.
Interoperability had been a major advantage
One of PrescribeIT’s key strengths was connecting multiple electronic medical record systems with pharmacy management software, bridging incompatible platforms across Alberta. Family physician Dr. Douglas Strilchuk noted platforms varied widely across the province, and PrescribeIT allowed clinicians to send prescriptions without changing their local systems. For many practices, the ability to keep existing workflows while enabling electronic delivery had been central to adoption.
Digital handling of controlled substances
Clinicians and regulators also praised PrescribeIT for handling prescriptions for controlled substances, which traditionally require triplicate paper forms. The service enabled clinicians to transmit the required multiple records simultaneously and securely, reducing paper handling and administrative burden. Medical directors and pharmacists say losing that capability will reinstate older paper and fax processes that are more cumbersome and increase administrative risk.
Questions on cost, scale and federal oversight
PrescribeIT’s closure has renewed scrutiny of funding and uptake. Federal Conservative MPs have publicly questioned the nearly $300 million Infoways invested in the program over almost a decade, noting the platform reached only a small fraction of clinics and pharmacies nationwide. Infoways has faced parliamentary requests for budget documentation and has not yet published the detailed spending records sought by some legislators. Those concerns are fueling debate about how digital health projects are procured and governed.
What Canadian Health Infoways and stakeholders say next
Infoways has said it will publish a national e-prescribing standard intended to allow e-prescribing to advance according to local priorities and implementation readiness. The organization also describes a draft standard that is being discussed in a working group open to participants from clinics, pharmacies and vendor communities. Suppliers of electronic medical records and pharmacy systems, along with provincial health authorities, will need to align with that standard to restore end-to-end electronic prescribing without a centrally operated service.
Clinicians and pharmacists are urging a rapid and transparent transition plan that minimizes disruptions to patient care. The Alberta Medical Association’s informatics lead highlighted how renewal requests, prescription status tracking and secure communication had flowed through PrescribeIT, and called for clear timelines and technical guidance from Infoways and vendors.
Operational and patient-safety concerns in the near term
Health-care workers warn that reverting to fax and phone increases the chance of missed or delayed medications, especially for patients with complex needs or those on narcotics and controlled drugs. Pharmacy managers say staff will need to re-establish manual verification routines and spend more time on follow-up calls. Smaller clinics and rural pharmacies, which adopted digital prescribing later than urban centres, may face disproportionate burdens during the transition.
Providers also voiced concerns about patient privacy and auditability when paper and faxed records re-enter workflows designed around digital security. The loss of an integrated electronic audit trail complicates reconciliation and quality assurance efforts, according to clinicians involved in informatics oversight.
The shutdown of PrescribeIT on May 29, 2026 has exposed the incomplete state of national e-prescribing deployment and left Alberta health-care providers relying on older communication methods while a new standard is developed. Stakeholders are pressing Infoways, vendors and provincial authorities for clear timelines, published technical specifications and financial transparency to ensure a prompt, secure and interoperable restoration of digital prescribing.
