July 2018
News
In this issue
| Late Erratum to the July 2018 PBS Schedule: Pricing Corrections for Trastuzumab, Glatiramer Acetate, and Interferon Beta 1-A |
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| Caution Regarding Adrenaline (Epinephrine) Auto-Injector Devices |
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| Fee Changes Applicable from 1 July 2018 |
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| Changing Approval Number? |
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| Fred Help Centre Featured Articles and Documents |
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| This Month's PBS Changes |
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| Running the monthly update for Fred Dispense |
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Late Erratum to the July 2018 PBS Schedule: Pricing Corrections for Trastuzumab, Glatiramer Acetate, and Interferon Beta 1-A
In a late erratum released on 29 June, the Department of Health advised of a pricing error affecting trastuzumab, glatiramer acetate, and interferon beta 1-a.
Fred received this information after releasing the July 2018 Fred Dispense update. Accordingly, the changes were not included in the July 2018 Fred Dispense update.
Details of the affected PBS item codes and the corrected values are available on the PBS website at http://www.pbs.gov.au/publication/schedule/2018/07/2018-07-01-errata.pdf
Impact on dispensing and claiming
Fred does not anticipate any dispensing or claiming issues for valid scripts written for the affected PBS items codes. The correct government recovery should be reimbursed by PBS. However, in the PBS Online reports, you may notice discrepancies when comparing the estimated government rebate (higher) versus the actual government rebate for these scripts.
Correcting the pricing discrepancies
We will release a Fred Dispense update once the updated PBS data is made available to us. If you dispensed the affected drugs and would like the pricing discrepancy corrected when a new update is available, please contact Fred Customer Service on 1300 731 888.
Caution Regarding Adrenaline (Epinephrine) Auto-Injector Devices
As mentioned in the PBS General Schedule for July 2018, various auto-injector products have different administration techniques. It is recommended that patients are given appropriate training on their use. For administration instructions, refer to PI/CMI. Further information is available from the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy website, https://allergy.org.au
The Adrenaline Mylan and Epipen brands have been flagged as equivalent for the purposes of brand substitution. However, the Emerade brand is listed under a separate PBS item code, and is not a-flagged.
Fee Changes Applicable from 1 July 2018
Premium Free Dispensing Incentive
From 1 July 2018, the Premium Free Dispensing Incentive fee will increase from $1.78 to $1.81
Fees
The following fees, patient contributions, and Safety Net thresholds apply from 1 July 2018 and are included, where applicable, in prices published in the Schedule.
| Fee Type | Fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Dispensing Fees | Ready-prepared | $7.29 |
| Dangerous drug fee | $3.07 | |
| Extemporaneously-prepared | $9.33 | |
| Allowable additional patient charge* | $4.45 | |
| Additional Fees (for safety net prices) | Ready-prepared | $1.23 |
| Extemporaneously-prepared | $1.59 | |
| Patient Co-payments | General | $39.50 |
| Concessional | $6.40 | |
| Safety Net Thresholds | General | $1521.80 |
| Concessional | $384.00 | |
| Safety Net Card Issue Fee | $9.91 | |
Administration, Handling, and Infrastructure (AHI) fees
| Tier 1 | For a maximum quantity of a listed brand with a price to pharmacists less than $180 | $4.04 per dispense* |
| Tier 2 | For a maximum quantity of a listed brand with a price to pharmacists from $180 to $2,089.71 | $4.04, plus 3.5% of the amount by which the price to pharmacists exceeds $180, per dispense* |
| Tier 3 | For a maximum quantity of a listed brand with a price to pharmacists more than $2,089.71 | $73.81 per dispense* |
* There is no change to the basis of the payment of the total mark-up / AHI (i.e. – in the table above, per dispense means per listed PBS item maximum quantity (MQ) supplied. Fee is calculated from the per pack price with AHI applied for maximum quantity, proportionate to the number of packs required for maximum quantity, and will be adjusted if less or more than the maximum quantity is supplied).
Chemotherapy fees
| Fee Type | Fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Section 90 Community Pharmacy(incl. section 92 approved practitioners) | Ready Prepared Dispensing Fee | $7.29 |
| Preparation Fee | $84.44 | |
| Distribution Fee | $26.65 | |
| Diluent Fee | $5.28 | |
| Section 94 Approved Private Hospital Authority | Ready Prepared Dispensing Fee | $7.29 |
| Preparation Fee | $7.29 | |
| Distribution Fee | $84.44 | |
| Diluent Fee | $5.28 | |
* The allowable additional patient charge is a discretionary charge to general patients if a pharmaceutical item has a dispensed price for maximum quantity less than the general patient co-payment. The pharmacist may charge general patients the allowable additional fee but the fee cannot take the cost of the prescription above the general patient co-payment for the medicine. This fee does not count towards the Safety Net threshold.
If you have set non-standard fees, check them on the NHS Dispensing Fees and Markup window ([Alt+S] > [N]) after all of the updates have run.
Changing Approval Number?
To avoid any interruption in trading at full capacity, it is important you give us plenty of advanced notice.
We have prepared this quick guide to Changing Approval Number for current and new owners to ensure a smooth business transition.
Fred Help Centre Featured Articles and Documents
End of Financial Year Report Recommendations
Fred Office End of Financial Year Report Recommendations
Stocktaking Help
This Month's PBS Changes
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: