THE outcome of the government's Review of Pharmacy Remuneration and Regulation will now not be handed down until May 2017, after Health Minister Sussan Ley and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull agreed to extend the original timeframe for delivery of the review panel's final report.
An Interim Report will be handed down in early 2017, according to an update issued yesterday by review chairman Stephen King, who revealed that more than 500 written submissions to the review were received, while more than 2000 people completed the questionnaire which canvassed opinions following the release of the review's discussion paper.
"From the wealth of this input the panel remains hard at work developing our draft recommendations which will be presented for consideration in our Interim Report," King wrote.
He also revealed that the panel had commissioned a range of consultancies to provide external expert advice, including an independent literature survey, general public and health representative group consultations as well as "focus group testing and analyses".
King confirmed the Panel would also shortly commission a targeted survey to directly obtain financial data from a broad cross-section of Australian community pharmacies.
"Key to our understanding of the environment in which the government interacts with the business of pharmacy will be a comprehensive financial analysis of the sector," he said.
The survey will provide details of the level and structure of remuneration for dispensing PBS medicines and the delivery of professional services, King said, adding "this will allow us to better understand community pharmacy's current and possible future operating environments".
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