Guild in talks with ACCC
August 28, 2014
THE Pharmacy Guild of Australia
is in talks with the Australian
Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) to develop
advice for members in terms of the
monetary value of various services
provided by pharmacists.
Speaking with PD, executive
director David Quilty said it was
“highly unlikely” that the Guild
would provide a price list, as this
would fall foul of the Competition
Act.
However, the organisation was in
initial discussions with the ACCC to
determine what sort of information
it could provide to members to
enable them to ascertain what
price to charge for various services.
In other countries, similar
organisations had indicated that
the time taken to provide particular
services, such as asthma support,
and the employee value of who had
performed the service, could be
used to come up with a cost for the
service, he said.
Another, more problematic option
would be to indicate a per minute
value of a pharmacist, the amount
of time for each service and “go
from there”, he said.
The Guild would need to go
through an authorisation process
with the ACCC, including public
consultation, which would take a
number of months, he said.
The ACCC was understanding of
the fact that pharmacists were now
providing a wide range of services
and trying to understand what
to charge but was concerned the
Guild putting out prices would be
price setting, he said.
Charging for a service would
“absolutely” be discretionary.
While previously services had
been provided free by crosssubsidising
from trading terms on
the cost of goods, as these terms
disappeared, there was a need for
transparent funding models for the
provision of care by pharmacists,
Quilty wrote in forefront.
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