THE Health Department is calling for expressions of interest from pharmacies wishing to take part in the $20 million Chronic Pain MedsCheck Trial, announced earlier this year by Health Minister Greg Hunt (PD 29 Jan 2018).
The program is being funded under the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement Pharmacy Trial Program, with the objective of evaluating the efficiency of the Chronic Pain MedsCheck service.
Interventions from community pharmacy will include supported self-management through pharmacist advice of patients taking medication who are dealing with chronic pain for more than three months; pharmacy-based evaluation of patients' medicine; provision of an action plan incorporating education, self-management and referral to other health professionals where additional support is required; and a three month follow-up after the initial service.
If a pharmacy agrees to take part, all pharmacists participating in the trial are obliged to complete free CPD accredited online training modules.
Around 40 patients meeting the trial criteria will be recruited by each pharmacy through until 01 Jun 2019, including patients living with ongoing chronic pain for three or more months who may be experiencing self-management problems or pain medication dependency.
Participating pharmacies will receive $100 for a 45-minute consultation with patients who have chronic pain, and a further $33 for a three month follow-up telephone consultation.
Pharmacies will also be funded to invest time submitting evaluation data to HealthConsult, a private firm contracted to review results.
Expressions of interest are open until 17 Sep at 6cpa.com.au.
Doctor groups are describing the concept as a "slap in the face for general practitioners".
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 06 Sep 18
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 06 Sep 18
