HMR change ‘slap in face’
February 14, 2014
Professional Pharmacists
Australia (PPA) has said the changes
to the Community Pharmacy
Agreement (CPA) programs are a
“slap in the face” to pharmacists
who did not own a pharmacy.
The changes struck between the
Pharmacy Guild of Australia and
the federal government (PD 12 Feb)
include a cap on Home Medicines
Reviews (HMRs) to 20 per month
per service provider, which PPA
president Geoff March said
significantly limited the ability of an
accredited pharmacist to operate
in a manner allowing a fair level of
remuneration.
“With these changes, an
independent HMR pharmacist can
only perform 20 HMRs a month,
earning approximately $46,576 a
year. This equates to $23.57 per
hour – essentially the base award
rate for a pharmacist.”
March said the limiting of the
MedsCheck/Diabetes MedsCheck
to 10 per month per pharmacy
showed the Guild did not value
the role of professional services in
community pharmacy.
A Guild spokesman said it had had
to work within the existing budget
and where there was not enough
funding to meet demand, the Guild
had tried to find as fair a solution as
possible.
“While we understand that
pharmacies and pharmacists will be
impacted, we have ensured these
programs will continue throughout
the remainder of the Agreement;
that they will be focussed more
on patients in greatest need; and
that other areas of the Agreement
will not be adversely affected by
overruns in these programs.”
MEAN WHILE the Society of
Hospital Pharmacists of Australia
(SHPA) said it was unacceptable
to reduce access to services that
improved medication use as it
would result in adverse outcomes
for patients.
“SHPA has grave concerns that the
proposed cap of 20 per month will
compromise both patient safety
and the profession’s ability to
provide comprehensive medication
review services outside the acute
care setting.”
The Consumers Health Forum
(CHF) spokesman Mark Metherell
said consumers valued the home
review programs which resulted
in a reduction in medication
misadventure.
“CHF is concerned that the
Government has made a ‘closed
shop’ agreement on this issue
with the Guild without consulting
consumers.”
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