February 2018
News
In this issue
| Changes in Fred Dispense from 1 February 2018 |
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| Spectre and Meltdown Security Vulnerabilities |
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| Chemotherapy: Generic ZZZ001 compounder ID code discontinued from 1 February 2018 |
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| This Month's PBS Changes |
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| Running the monthly update for Fred Dispense |
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Erratum to the PBS Summary of Changes for February 2018
It has just been announced that Tenecteplase Injections (Metalyse), both strengths (8526R and 8527T) will remain on the PBS in February 2018. Please disregard the deletion notice in the PBS Summary of Changes effective 1 February 2018.
Changes in Fred Dispense from 1 February 2018
For details, see the Release Notes for February 2018
International Harmonisation of Ingredient Names (IHIN)
From 1 February, Fred Dispense will cater for the Therapeutic Goods Administration's program to update medicine ingredient names to their current international names.
Some generic drug names have changed. When you search for one of these drugs by its original name, you will see it listed under its new name, along with an indicator of its original name.
Script labels, repeat forms, receipts, and several reports have been modified to indicate both the new and original name of the updated drugs; for example, ARTANE TABLETS 2mg 200 (TRIHEXYPHENIDYL) =BENZHEXOL
Change the font size on the Drug Selection window
In order to more easily view drugs with long names, you can now press the minus key [-] to reduce the font size on the Drug Selection window.
Bug fix: PBS-Online Reports Parameter Window Sort Order
On the PBS-Online Reports parameter window (Activities > Pharmpay Claim > PBS Online Report Parameters), when you select a weekly report, the RBA Number dropdown is now sorted first by descending claim number, then by ascending RBA number. This ensures that the most relevant weekly payments are at the top of the list. Previously, you had to scroll to the bottom of the list to find the most recent claim numbers.
Spectre and Meltdown Security Vulnerabilities
On 4 January 2018, Google Zero, (a Google 'watchdog' division) identified two new security vulnerabilities, named Spectre and Meltdown, that affect almost all Intel, AMD, and ARM processors. This is a global issue reaching across all industries and technologies. We have written an article providing details about Spectre and Meltdown, along with the steps Fred is taking to help our customers protect themselves from these risks. For details, see Spectre and Meltdown Security Vulnerabilities
Chemotherapy: Generic ZZZ001 compounder ID code discontinued from 1 February 2018
Since 1 September 2016, the generic compounder ID code ZZZ001 was able to be used to lodge a claim for Efficient Funding of Chemotherapy (EFC) items where the compounder ID was either unknown or not yet obtained.
From 1 February 2018, the generic ZZZ001 code will no longer be available. You will need to ensure you have the compounder ID for any eligible PBS EFC items you claim. If you undertake your own compounding, you must have obtained your compounder ID from the CCPS Administration Agency.
The Department of Health recommends that compounder IDs (if not already obtained) are acquired at least six weeks prior to making a claim.
Further information on the CCPS, including how to obtain a compounder ID, is available on the Chemotherapy Compounding Payment Scheme (CCPS) page on the PBS website. See also the Factsheet and Frequently Asked Questions.
For information about dispensing Chemotherapy drugs in Fred Dispense, see Chemotherapy Dispensing.
This Month's PBS Changes
Erratum to the PBS Summary of Changes for February 2018
It has just been announced that Tenecteplase Injections (Metalyse), both strengths (8526R and 8527T) will remain on the PBS in February 2018. Please disregard the deletion notice in the PBS Summary of Changes effective 1 February 2018.
For the full Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits, go to the PBS website at http://www.pbs.gov.au/ where you can search the schedule by drug name.
For your convenience, we've also uploaded a printable summary of this month's important PBS changes to this site: