Pharmacy Daily | Access to MMRs down

PATIENT access to medication management reviews (MMRs) is in decline, the Commonwealth Department of Health's 2018/19 Annual Report reveals.

Data from the report, published last week, revealed that the percentage of urban centres with a population of more than 1,000 with a resident service provider or recipient of MedsCheck, Home Medicines Reviews (HMRs), Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMRs) or Clinical Interventions, fell by 9.1% since the 2015/16 year.

The report found that while the rate was within the Government's 80% target, it had fallen steadily over the last four years.

NPS MedicineWise Director and consultant pharmacist, Debbie Rigby, said the Department's figure indicated caps on HMRs, RMMRS and MedChecks had reduced uptake.

"I think the funding needs to change, especially for HMRs and RMMRs - maybe they should just be called MMRs," she said.

"The [Pharmacy] Guild [of Australia] seems to set and forget...there was substantial support for when those programs were introduced, but little or no ongoing support.

"Current Guild leaders want to kill off HMRs and RMMRs as they are largely not done through community pharmacy, and yet they are the only programs which have shown positive outcomes and sustainability.

"We now have a workforce ready and able to deliver... many early career pharmacists see it as part of their future, and yet artificial constraints are imposed.

"They restrict access, especially in rural and remote areas."

While Rigby noted the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has been advocating for pharmacists to be allowed to provide MMRs through the Medicare Benefits Scheme, she warned there were risks with that.