Diabetes funding urged
August 27, 2013
The Pharmaceutical Society of
Australia and the Pharmacy Guild
have both suggested an expanded
role for pharmacists in diabetes
care, as part of their responses to
the government’s consultation on
the post-market review of products
uses in the management of the
condition.
The Department of Health and
Ageing called for submissions
earlier this year, with 25 responses
now listed on the pbs.gov.au site.
The PSA document has urged
exploration of mechanisms to
fund “pharmacist-delivered
medication management services...
for consumers who are not eligible
under the arrangements of the Fifth
Community Pharmacy Agreement”.
And another suggestion from
the PSA is the inclusion of an
annual Home Medicines Review in
a consumer’s diabetes care plan,
as a requirement for eligibility
for continued subsidisation of an
expensive PBS medicine.
The Guild’s response makes a
number of recommendations,
including that pharmacists “should
be better utilised and compensated
for supporting measures to improve
prescribing practices”.
This could include developing
the Diabetes MedsCheck services
so that pharmacists have greater
capacity to follow up on adherence
issues for at-risk patients, as well as
encouraging patients with chronic
health conditions “educated and
encouraged to select and use one
preferred pharmacy”.
Among other ideas, the Guild also
urged a PBS-subsidised DAA service
for at-risk patient groups.
CLICK HERE to see submissions.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 27 Aug 13To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 27 Aug 13
