Home Medicines Review changes.
Health minister Tanya Plibersek has today announced a range of measures to ensure that Home Medicines Reviews (HMRs) are delivered appropriately to patients, as originally intended under the HMR program.
In future medication reviews under the program will only be conducted outside of patients’ homes “where there is pre-approval for clearly defined circumstances”.
There’s also a requirement that only accredited pharmacists conduct all stages of HMRs.
The Pharmacy Guild, which previously called for a moratorium on the HMR program due to rapid overspending, has strongly backed the changes.
“It was unacceptable that certain business practices had developed that led to significant numbers of HMRs being done outside the home, contrary to the spirit and intent of this Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement program,” the Guild said.
Executive Director, David Quilty, said there was no certainty that these measures will be sufficient to bring the program back within budget, including into next financial year, “and further measures may yet be required”.
“The source of funding to cover the overspend in the HMR program is a matter that is still under negotiation between the Guild and the Department of Health and Ageing,” he said.
More information in Monday’s issue of Pharmacy Daily.
