April 2025
News
In this issue
| PBS Safety Net Threshold Changes – What You Need to Know and Interim Dispensing Instructions |
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| Disabling or re-enabling Electronic prescriptions |
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| Reminder: Services Australia PRODA B2B Device expiry |
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| Do you have upcoming changes to your business? |
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| This Month's PBS Changes |
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PBS Safety Net Threshold Changes – What You Need to Know and Interim Dispensing Instructions
PBS have updated their rules regarding when the Safety Net threshold is reached and triggered. Under the new guidelines:
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If a concessional patient reaches the Safety Net threshold (e.g. $269.50 after dispensing 35 prescriptions), the 36th prescription will be free because the 36th script will meet $277.20.
Previously, reduced co-payments applied to all subsequent prescriptions after reaching the threshold. Now, the reduced rate applies only when the threshold is exactly met.
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General patients will be less affected, as their threshold is not tied to a specific number of prescriptions.
As a result, Fred Dispense will now prompt to issue the Safety Net card when dispensing the 36th script, assuming all were dispensed at $7.70 for the 36th script being at the Safety net price (free). This ensures the prescription value dispensed correctly meets the Safety Net rate.
In the interim, to ensure all 36 scripts are accounted for on the PRF:
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Print a drug label for the free 36th script and affix the main (big) label to the PRF before submitting the report.
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If the label doesn't have patient price on it, then handwrite the price on the label e.g.: $0.00.
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Continue this process until Services Australia provides further guidance on next steps.
Reference is obtained from the Services Australia Website under The PBS Safety Net Rate.
If you have any further queries, please contact Services Australia 132 290 Option 2.
Disabling or re-enabling Electronic prescriptions
In the event of potential clinical risks with dispensing and supplying an ePrescription, you are reminded that you can disable an ePrescription in Fred Dispense.
This is particularly important if the patient is a doctor shopper or you suspect the prescription may be fraudulent.
For step-by-step instructions, see Disable or re-enable an ePrescription.
Reminder: Services Australia PRODA B2B Device expiry
To avoid disruption to your Services Australia PBS Online claiming, you’ll need to extend your B2B Device in your PRODA account before it expires.
You’ll need to extend your B2B device with PRODA at least every 6 months.
Fred Dispense will warn you of the impending expiry at the following time intervals:
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30 days from expiry
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14 days from expiry
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Every day from 7 days to the expiry day.
For more information on how to do this, refer to: Managing B2B Devices in PRODA - PRODA (Provider Digital Access) on the Services Australia website or call Services Australia on 1800 700 199.
Do you have upcoming changes to your business?
Are there any upcoming changes to your business? These may include:
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Store Details – Store name, approval number, ABN, address, or brand/group
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Contact Details – Changes in ownership, business partners, or primary contact information
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Account Changes – Updates to billing contact details or payment options
Here are some guides to help you through the process:
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.
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.