Pharmacy Daily | CPA fails rural and regional patients

COMMUNITY pharmacy's remuneration model is failing to adequately fund rural and regional pharmacists to deliver services to some of Australia's sickest and highest-need patients, the Small Pharmacies Group (SPG) and Rural Pharmacy Network Australia (RPNA) claim.

In a joint statement the groups called on those involved in negotiations for the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA) to develop "a new model of funding for pharmacy services that would focus pharmacists' attention on patients with the greatest need".

"The current pharmacy remuneration system is broken in rural and remote areas and is also failing the sickest and highest needs patients across Australia," the groups said.

"The 6CPA is not adequately recognising the challenges, including the higher per patient workload and associated costs, of delivering pharmaceutical care and services to disadvantaged patients.

"The current 'throughput' model where pharmacists are incentivised to maximise dispensing volume and speed at the expense of pharmaceutical care where it is needed is no longer serving Australia's best interests, especially the disadvantaged segment of the pharmacy market.

"This segment of the market includes those with more complex healthcare needs, those living in rural and remote locations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, those facing socioeconomic disadvantage, those with poor literacy/non-English speaking background, and those with a disability as opposed to those who are primarily driven by cost and convenience who tend to be younger, higher socio-economic, healthier, and more mobile."

With less than six weeks remaining on the 6CPA and the 7CPA yet to be finalised, the SPG and RPNA also flagged concerns over the possible introduction of 60-day dispensing, warning "the impact of such measures will be particularly detrimental in rural communities where patients are relying heavily on their local pharmacy for healthcare advice and triaging but the impacts will also be felt in disadvantaged pockets and communities within metropolitan areas".

The groups have called for pharmacists to be financially supported to deliver targeted pharmacist-led interventions based on area demographics and patient need to produce tangible health outcomes and reduce hospitalisations.