PBS medication chart out
June 27, 2016
The Australian Commission on
Safety and Quality in Health Care
has released a new PBS Hospital
Medication Chart (HMC), which
will be available for hospitals to
implement from 01 Jul.
The paper-based chart, which
is the first phase of the project,
provides an alternative option for
the prescribing, dispensing and
claiming of PBS and RPBS medicines
in the hospital setting.
A second phase will involve the
development of specifications for
an electronic version of the chart,
to allow for electronic prescribing
and claiming of PBS medicines in
hospitals by next March.
The project aims to reduce the
possibility of errors that arise when
prescribers transcribe from the
chart to a separate prescription.
“The chart will consolidate a
patient’s medicines story in a single
document, and assist prescribers
to complete timely medicines
review for discharge, leading to
improved quality use of medicines
outcomes,” according to an update
on the Health Department website.
A trial assessing the new Hospital
Medication Chart has been under
way in private hospitals since May
last year, and an evaluation of
the pilot program is expected to
become available later this week.
The new chart will cover general
schedule PBS medicines, Authority
Required (streamlined and
telephone/electronic) items, PBS
discharge medicines under PBS
Reform arrangements, controlled
medicines (S8), and Section 100
programs where a PBS prescription
is required.
A key feature of the PBS HMC is
that both the script and the record
of medicine administration are
recorded on the same document.
The patient’s details, including
their known adverse drug
reactions, are visible on the HMC
to enable correct identification
when prescribing, supplying and
administering medicines.
“Faxed, photocopied and
emailed scanned images of the
PBS HMC will also contain this
information to assist pharmacists
in identifying the correct patient
and their medication orders,” says
a Frequently Asked Questions
document on the site.
The PBS HMC ‘charting cycle’,
which is determined by the PBS
prescriber for their patient, is a
maximum of one month, four
months, or 12 months.
An approved pharmacist is
required to meet the health
practitioner’s order until the
stop date or chart expiry date,
whichever is earlier.
Unlike the existing process,
the amount of each medicine
supplied by the pharmacy is not
determined by a maximum quantity
and repeats - instead, for each
PBS medicine order the health
practitioner must specify a period
of time that a medicine is to be
administered and supplied - in turn
removing the requirement for PBS
repeat authorisation forms.
More at www.health.gov.au.
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