January 2022
News
Thank you to all our pharmacies who have led the way in continuing to service our communities in yet another year of extreme uncertainty and challenges.
Please see a short video from Paul Naismith recapping the highlights and achievements for Pharmacy in 2021.
In this issue
| ACTION REQUIRED: March 2022 Pharmacy Changes |
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| End-of-Year Process in Fred Dispense |
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| When to Run the January Monthly Drug Update |
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| Fee Changes From 1 January 2022 |
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| Fred Help Christmas and New Year Hours |
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| My Script List reaches one million and provides a lifeline during floods |
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| New in MedView Flow: View the number of MySL patients and active scripts |
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| This Month's PBS Changes |
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ACTION REQUIRED: March 2022 Pharmacy Changes
Services Australia (Medicare) are changing the way pharmacies submit claims to PBS Online, and upgrading the NASH system.
Complete the following mandatory requirements ASAP to ensure your pharmacy is ready by 13 Mar 2022.
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Transition to PBS Web Services and PRODA to continue using PBS Online for claiming purposes
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Obtain a new NASH certificate valid beyond 13 Mar 2022 for ePrescriptions, HI Services, MySL and MyHR to remain operational.
To assist you with this process we have compiled a quick reference guide and checklist.
For assistance with PRODA, PBS Web Services or your NASH certificate you will need to contact Services Australia on 1800 700 199 and this may cause delays.
The Fred Helpdesk can assist with any steps related to updating Fred Dispense.
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.
Fee Changes From 1 January 2022
The following PBS fee changes are effective from 1 January 2022:
| Category | Fees | 2021 | From 1 January 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dispensing fees | Allowable additional patient charge | $4.42 | $4.54 |
| Patient co-payment |
General Concessional |
$41.30 $6.60 |
$42.50 $6.80 |
| Safety Net threshold |
General Concessional |
$1497.20 $316.80 |
$1542.10 $326.40 |
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.
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DATE |
FRED HELP OFFICE HOURS (AEDT) |
|---|---|
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Friday 24 December 2021 (Christmas Eve) |
8:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
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Saturday 25 December 2021 (Christmas Day) |
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (Emergencies Only) |
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Sunday 26 December 2021 (Boxing Day) |
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
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Monday 27 December 2021 (Public Holiday |
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
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Tuesday 28 December 2021 (Public Holiday) |
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
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Wednesday 29 December 2021 |
8:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
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Thursday 30 December 2021 |
8:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
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Friday 31 December 2021 (New Year's Eve) |
8:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
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Saturday 1 January 2022 (New Year's Day) |
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
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Sunday 2 January 2022 |
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
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Monday 3rd January 2022 (Public Holiday) |
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
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From Tuesday 4th January 2022 |
Normal support hours Weekdays: 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM Weekends: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
My Script List reaches one million and provides a lifeline during floods
Since launching in April, My Script List has demonstrated its value in helping to avoid medication disruptions that would otherwise occur as a result of events such as floods, isolation due to COVID or travelling.
“Many of our patients were cut off from town and isolated by the severe flooding in November. Without My Script List and electronic scripts, they would not have been able to access their medications. Instead, patients could use telehealth consults to obtain an electronic script, which we could immediately view and dispense via My Script List. We delivered patient medications to SES workers, who ferried medications to patients across flood waters.” Jack Buckley, Life Pharmacy Forbes
My Script List is a Department of Health conformant Active Script List (ASL). Your pharmacy can seamlessly access, obtain consent and dispense from a patient's MySL in Fred Dispense.
New in MedView Flow: View the number of MySL patients and active scripts
Release 2021.22 of MedView Flow now includes the ability to see MySL Metrics from the In screen. You can view the:
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Number of patients that have given your pharmacy permanent access to their MySL
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Total number of active scripts that your pharmacy can access
Read the MedView Flow Release Notes for more information on this release.
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.
The next edition of the PBS Summary of Changes will be published by 3 January 2022.
For Highly Specialised Drugs (HSD) items (CAR and non-CAR), please refer to the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits as well as Services Australia to confirm whether the PBS item code for a HSD is eligible to be dispensed and claimed by your pharmacy type.