EMPOWERING pharmacists to prescribe under the Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence (MATOD) program could improve access for patients in need, an expert believes.
Speaking during a Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) webinar on Wed, Western Victoria Primary Health Network Opioid Management Clinical Advisor and La Trobe University Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences Lecturer, Pene Wood, said pharmacist prescribing could boost access to the program.
"One of the biggest barriers to the MATOD program is the lack of prescribers," she said.
"So it's a perfect opportunity for pharmacists to step up and say 'we're willing and able to do this', whereas there's a number of prescribers that are just not interested in participating.
"There's a big gap and I think we're perfectly placed to fill it.
"The model can look lots of different ways - a collaborative model being initiated by a GP and then the pharmacist can continue prescribing and refer back to the person who initiated it for support, if needs be, could be one model.
"But I also think that in the future - if we ever see it - that independent prescribing could be an option as well."
Wood also voiced support for extending pharmacists' scope of practice to include administering monthly depot injection treatments through the MATOD program.
"We're perfectly placed to be doing this for these patients," she said.
"I know in different states there's lots of different legislation about what you can give and what you can't give, but I know there's been some advocacy around pharmacists doing this.
"We provide methadone, we provide suboxone - it's just providing MATOD in a different form."
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