Pharmacy
Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement Professional Programs and Services - Fact Sheet
Information on the programs and services available under the Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement.
Background
The Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement (Fourth Agreement) covers the period 1 December 2005 to 30 June 2010. It provides up to $568 million for funding of professional pharmacy programs and services.Since 1990, the Australian Government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia have entered into agreements which set out the remuneration that pharmacists will receive for dispensing Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines and the arrangements regulating the location of pharmacies approved to supply PBS medicines. Over time these agreements have increased in scope to provide for professional pharmacy programs and services.
The Fourth Agreement will provide up to $568 million for funding of professional pharmacy programs and services.
The priorities for funding during the Fourth Agreement are:
- Better Community Health Programs;
- Medication Management Review Programs;
- Rural Programs;
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs; and
- e-Health initiatives.
Better Community Health Programs
This is a new initiative under the Fourth Agreement which will fund innovative primary care and community health programs in community pharmacy. Programs are being developed in partnerships between government, community pharmacies and other health professionals. Funding of up to $260 million is available for the Better Community Health programs.New programs prioritised for funding under the Fourth Agreement are:
- the Diabetes Pilot Program – community pharmacists will receive incentives to provide in-pharmacy counselling and support to patients with diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes, to improve management of their condition and use of associated medications;
- the Dose Administration Aids Program – community pharmacists will receive subsidies for the provision of Dose Administration Aids to improve medication compliance in patients and reduce medication-related hospitalisations and adverse events; and
- a Patient Medication Profiling Service – under this program community pharmacists will be subsidised to provide a comprehensive profile of an individual patient’s medications which will improve patient and carer understanding of the medications patients take.
- the Asthma Pilot Program – community pharmacists receive subsidies to assist patient self-management and improve the Quality Use of Medicines for people with poorly controlled asthma.
Funding of an Asthma Pilot Program is an agreed priority of the Fourth Agreement.
Existing Better Community Health programs offered by community pharmacies that received ongoing funding under the Fourth Agreement are:
- Quality Care Pharmacy Program – ongoing maintenance of the standard of customer service in individual pharmacies across Australia providing an industry-wide guarantee of retail service quality and professional service; and
- Research and Development Program – this program aims to identify priority research and development areas in community pharmacy service provision, and then to fund projects with the greatest potential to deliver services with positive health and economic impacts.
Medication Management Review Program
The Fourth Agreement includes funding up to $150 million for a range of medication management review programs. The programs are well established and aim to enhance the Quality Use of Medicines and reduce the number of adverse drug events experienced by the elderly and others using multiple medicines, by assisting them to manage their medicines.Services funded under this program include:
- Residential Medication Management Reviews;
- Home Medicine Reviews;
- Medication Review Accreditation Incentives; and
- Medication Management Review Facilitators Program.
Rural Programs
Funding of up to $111 million is provided under the Fourth Agreement for a range of Rural Pharmacy Allowance and Support programs. These programs aim to maintain and improve access to quality community pharmacy services for communities in rural and remote areas of Australia. The programs also aim to increase the proportion of the total pharmacy workforce starting practice in rural and remote Australia and staying in rural and remote practice for at least five years.Programs funded under this initiative include:
- Rural Workforce Program;
- Pre-Registration Incentive Allowance; and
- Rural Pharmacy Maintenance, Rural Pharmacy Start-up and Rural Pharmacy Succession Allowances.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs
The Fourth Agreement provides funding of up to $27 million for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs. These programs aim to improve access to community pharmacy services by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by taking account of cultural issues in meeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health needs. Priorities for this program include:- recognition of cultural preferences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in community pharmacy health care delivery, through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Scholarship Scheme and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Assistant Traineeship Scheme
- provision of ongoing funding through the community pharmacy support allowances to improve access and Quality Use of Medicines by clients of eligible remote area Aboriginal Health Services, through the Section 100 Pharmacy Support Allowance; and
- improving Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) accessibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, through the community pharmacy network in rural and urban Australia under the Quality Use of Medicines Maximised for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples program (QUMAX).
e-Health Initiatives
Funding of up to $20 million is available for e-Health initiatives involving community pharmacies. Of this funding a total of $9 million was used to fund an extension to the Broadband for Health: Pharmacy Program up until 31 December 2007. The Broadband for Health: Pharmacy Program provided incentives for community pharmacies to help meet the installation and usage costs of a qualified broadband service.Funding for e-Health initiatives is also being used to fund the Pharmacy Connectivity Incentive Program which will provide financial incentives to community pharmacy to encourage the uptake and maintenance of business grade broadband connections and transmission of claims via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Online.
Role of the Professional Programs and Services Advisory Committee
The Professional Programs and Services Advisory Committee (the Committee) was established under the Fourth Agreement. The Committee provides advice and recommendations to the Minister for Health and Ageing on the programs and services to receive funding under the Fourth Agreement. The Committee provides advice and recommendations on the:- funding of projects and management responsibilities;
- development of policy objectives, eligibility criteria and performance outcome measures; and
- progress with, and outcome of, professional programs and services.
Further information on the Committee is available from the PPSAC website at http://www.health.gov.au/ppsac or the PPSAC Secretariat (ppsac@health.gov.au).
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