January 2019
News
In this issue
| Fred Help Christmas and New Year Hours |
|
| Fee Changes From 1 January 2019 |
|
| End-of-Year Process in Fred Dispense |
|
| When to Run the January Monthly Drug Update |
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| SafeScript and Fred Dispense for Victorian Pharmacies |
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| This Month's PBS Changes |
|
| Running the monthly update for Fred Dispense |
|
Fred Help Christmas and New Year Hours
Fred Help will be available on 1300 731 888 during Christmas and New Year.
We suggest that you print out this calendar and display it prominently in your dispensary during the festive season. This will ensure that all of your staff are aware of the hours they can contact us, should they require support.
| DATE | FRED HELP OFFICE HOURS (AEDT) |
|---|---|
| Monday 24 December 2018 (Christmas Eve) | 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
| Tuesday 25 December 2018 (Christmas Day) | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (Emergencies Only) |
| Wednesday 26 December 2018 (Boxing Day) | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Thursday 27 December 2018 | 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
| Friday 28 December 2018 | 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
| Saturday 29 December 2018 | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Sunday 30 December 2018 | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Monday 31 December 2018 (New Year's Eve) | 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
| Tuesday 1 January 2019 (New Year's Day) | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| From Wednesday 2 January 2018 |
Normal support hours Weekdays: 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM Weekends: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
Fee Changes From 1 January 2019
The following PBS fee changes are effective from 1 January 2019:
| Category | Fees | 2018 | From 1 January 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dispensing fees | Allowable additional patient charge | $4.45 | $4.53 |
| Patient co-payment |
General Concessional |
$39.50 $6.40 |
$40.30 $6.50 |
| Safety Net threshold |
General Concessional |
$1521.80 $384.00 |
$1550.70 $390.00 |
End-of-Year Process in Fred Dispense
The end-of-year process must be run on your last trading day of the year after closing, or before opening on your first trading day of the new year. This process removes the previous year's Safety Net entitlement details, and prepares a “clean slate” for the new year. For details, see End-of-Year Process
When to Run the January Monthly Drug Update
The best time to run the first monthly drug update of the new year is immediately before or after running the end-of-year process.
If you do not run the drug update before the end of December, Fred Dispense will remind you to run it at the start of your first trading day in January.
Checking your NHS fees for the new year
NHS fees and markups are updated automatically in your monthly drug update, but we recommend you check your NHS fees table after running the update, to familiarise yourself with the new fees and ensure they have been updated correctly.
- In Fred Dispense, click the Setup menu (or press [Alt+S]).
- Press [N], or click NHS Fees.
Non-standard fees
- If you select No, a blue message reminds you to check and adjust the fees manually.
- If you select Yes, the Drug Update continues with the standard fees.
SafeScript and Fred Dispense for Victorian Pharmacies
1. Register
Victorian pharmacies wishing to use SafeScript must first register with the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services
2. Activate
Once the registration process is complete, activate SafeScript in Fred Dispense.
- Go to Setup > eHealth Configuration > SafeScript Configuration.
- Select Activate SafeScript.
- Click Save.
3. Dispense
- When you dispense S8 or Victorian monitored drugs, you must enter the patient's Date of Birth.
- SafeScript returns a notification when you navigate to the Pharmacist initials field.
For more information, refer to SafeScript in Fred Dispense.
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:
Please note that the Government provides this information under embargo to Fred IT Group to enable next month’s PBS changes to be incorporated into your drug file. We have provided this information in this newsletter to prepare you for the changes, maximising patient availability/access and enabling you to adjust your stock accordingly. A condition of the embargo and in the interests of the quality use of medicines is that the information must not be released to the public or otherwise distributed prior to 1 January 2019.