Face to face consultation
June 10, 2014
PHARMACY Guild of Australia
national president George
Tambassis has said face to
face consultation is better for
consumers than online suppliers of
prescription drugs.
Jon Faine of 774 ABC Melbourne
said “traditional style pharmacies”
had warned that online suppliers
were putting patients’ health at risk
and asked whether this was self
interest or public interest.
Faine said having to go back to a
doctor and pharmacist for a repeat
prescription seemed like a waste of
time and money and online portals
undercut pharmacies on cost.
Tambassis said he believed it
was not appropriate to “go online,
answer a questionnaire, and work
out what your issues are,” when it
came to talking about health.
“There’d be a much, much better
outcome for all your listeners if you
had a face to face consultation... if
you’ve run out of your medication,
...I suggest you need to go and visit
your local pharmacist and work out
what the issue is.”
Tambassis said there was
legislation that allowed pharmacies
to continue dispensing medications
even if a patient had run out of
their prescription.
“These online portals don’t know
who you are, you don’t know who’s
taking the information off you.”
Tambassis said local pharmacies
were used to being pricecompetitive
as well as providing
high value information services.
The Therapeutic Goods
Administration (TGA) advises
consumers on its website to ask
a healthcare professional (HCP)
before buying something and only
purchase from pharmacies located
in Australia.
NPS MedicineWise said
prescribing decisions needed
to be made in the context of
a patient’s full medical history
and needs, and a “perfunctory”
online questionnaire might not be
sufficient to make an appropriate
prescribing decision.
It was important for health
problems to be properly diagnosed
and for people to have an
opportunity to talk to an HCP
before receiving treatment, it said.
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