No PBS changes this month
November 2, 2012
USUALLY the start of a new
month marks a number of changes
to the Pharmaceutical Benefits
Scheme, with the addition and
deletion of various items.
However this month is different,
with no alterations to the PBS in
November because of a major
transformation of the information
management systems used by the
Department of Health and Ageing’s
Pharmaceutical Benefits Division.
The new system is called
PharmCIS (Pharmaceutical
Consolidated Information System)
and the cutover is currently under
way meaning the next schedule
update will be on 01 December.
The department said PharmCIS
would deliver “two key changes
that will support E-health initiatives
now and into the future”.
These include the introduction of
Australian Medicines Terminology
(AMT) into the published PBS
schedule and its underpinning data.
The National E-Health Transition
Authority has been assisting the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Division
with implementation of the AMT
and alignment with the current PBS
schedule, and from next month it
will include AMT identifiers and
preferred term descriptions.
In particular it will use the
Medicinal Product Pack as the
standardised descriptor of dosage
form and strength, resulting in the
consistent depiction of pack size.
The introduction of PharmCIS also
provides an opportunity to
structure the indication information
contained in restrictions, including
authority required and authority
required streamlined items.
The aim is for a uniform structure
to simplify the development of
medical software, with this change
to be progressively rolled out.
Interested pharmacists are
advised to subscribe to the latest
news at www.pbs.gov.au/subscribe
so that they can be kept abreast of
developments.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 02 Nov 12To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 02 Nov 12
