THE government's 60-day dispensing policy, designed to cut the cost of medicines for millions of Australians, is not living up to its potential because GPs and pharmacists have been slow to adopt it, new research has found.
The team from the George Institute for Global Health looked at uptake of the policy for blood pressure medicines over a two-year period since it launched in Sep 2023.
They found that despite clear financial benefits for patients, only 21.2% of antihypertensive prescriptions were through 60-day dispensing - much less than the government's projected uptake of 45%.
Patients taking antihypertensive medications saved around $65 million through 60-day prescribing in the first 20 months of the policy, but the analysis found that if uptake rose to 50%, annual savings could reach $165 million for patients and $11.6 million for the government.
"The financial benefits for patients are substantial and well-established," said lead author Dr Tian Wang.
"The challenge now is making sure those benefits actually reach people, and that requires action and support from GPs and pharmacists."
Among 20 GPs interviewed for the study, eight said they proactively offered 60-day prescriptions, six did so only if patients asked, and five rarely or never prescribed them.
Barriers for GPs included difficulty keeping track of which medicines were eligible for 60-day supply, and reports that pharmacists were discouraging the longer prescriptions.
GPs also pointed out that prescribing software defaulted to 30-day dispensing, making 60-day prescriptions a manual workaround rather than standard practice.
Four pharmacists interviewed for the study raised concerns about incorrect dispensing and potential medicine shortages if 60-day supply became more widespread, while lost income was also cited as a concern for pharmacy owners.
The researchers noted that the Additional Community Supply Support (ACSS) payment program introduced in Apr 2024 to offset the financial impact on pharmacies cost the government $46.5 million in the first year.
While the 60-day dispensing policy generated $87 million in gross PBS savings over the two-year study period, the ACSS payment reduced the government's net saving to $0.3 million, with patients being the main financial beneficiaries of the policy to date.
The researchers suggested several measures to boost uptake of 60-day prescriptions, including working with GP software providers to make 60-day prescribing the default option for eligible medicines.
"Most patients are still on 30-day prescriptions simply because their GP has not yet made the switch," Dr Wang said.
"Updating prescribing software is one of the most straightforward changes that could make a real difference," she added.
The team also recommended highlighting to pharmacists the benefits to consumers and the availability of the ACSS payments to support 60-day prescribing. KB
Read the paper in the MJA HERE.
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