Chemo review report out
December 11, 2013
The Department of Health has
published its report into the review
of chemotherapy funding (PD 02
Dec), which recently resulted in
more than $82m in additional PBS
funding for the sector.
The new funding arrangements
will see pharmacies and hospitals
receive $152.66 for every
chemotherapy infusion they
compound and dispense from 01
Jan 2014-30 Jun 2015.
However after this 18 month
period chemotherapy funding “will
be considered as part of any future
agreement for pharmacy services
under the PBS,” the report says.
Key findings of the review were
that in the past “excessive margins
available from medicine price
discounts had delivered substantial
profits” to chemotherapy providers.
However now that the price
disclosure measure has removed
these high margins for multibrand
medicines, remuneration
available through PBS mark-ups
and fees under Efficient Funding
of Chemotherapy arrangements
“may no longer be sufficient to
adequately meet the costs of
compounding and supply for the
average pharmacy”.
The review cited data provided
by some pharmacies which
showed that there “may be a
deficit in funding,” however the
small number of data sets and
inconsistencies between reported
costs mean it’s difficult to verify the
overall impact of the changes.
It also found that there is a high
level of complexity in the sector,
with various models some of which
involve commercial or equity
relationships between pharmacists,
oncologists and hospitals.
“Beyond funding, efficiency
benefits could be achieved by
reducing the complexity and
administrative burden associated
with chemotherapy reimbursement
on the PBS,” the review concluded.
CLICK HERE to view the report.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 11 Dec 13To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 11 Dec 13
