Strong support for CSOs
March 27, 2014
The Pharmacy Guild of
Australia said there had been
“strong support” for wholesalers’
Community Service Obligation (CSO
with two thirds of participants at
an APP interactive session saying
it had a positive impact on their
business.
Guild executive director David
Quilty wrote in forefront that
about 200 people had attended the
session of which about 140 were
pharmacists.
Attendees used a keypad to
answer multiple choice questions,
with results providing “some very
useful insights into the thinking
of pharmacy owners and other
pharmacists,” Quilty said.
The Guild intended to provide
a shorter version of the survey to
branches but some results were
published, including that more than
90% of respondents said that all
PBS-listed products should be made
available to CSO wholesalers.
About 44% of participants said
that the dispensing fee should be
increased while 40% believed both
this and the level of mark up should
be increased, Quilty said.
There was “across-the-board”
support for electronic prescriptions,
a pharmacy e-health record and an
increased emphasis on pharmacybased
telehealth services, he said.
More than 80% of respondents
wanted professional programs
expanded in the next Agreement,
with almost the same percentage
believing these should be delivered
through the community pharmacy
network.
Quilty said it should be recognised
that this was a relatively small
sample of people and it was
important to ensure surveys
were indicative of the broader
community pharmacy population.
To read more survey results,
CLICK HERE.
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