HMR pharmacists score a win : 09/06/2011 :

Commencing October 1, 2011 accredited medication review pharmacists will be able to receive HMR referrals directly from  the patient's doctor. To date, the only referral pathway allowed by the business rules has been through the patient's community pharmacy of choice.

The news was widely welcomed by pharmacists yesterday. AACP Chair Debbie Rigby said: "While I support the current model of HMRs through community pharmacies and believe it will remain a valuable component of this service, I see the increased flexibility offered by these changes as maturation of the profession. It is time to release individual accredited pharmacists to innovate their own business models to align with general practitioner and consumer expectations."

PSA President Warwick Plunkett said: "These changes generally represent a long overdue win for independent accredited pharmacists who have been hampered in the past by the inability of a doctor to refer a HMR to them to perform.  The changes could dramatically alter the way medication reviews are delivered in the future, which will complement existing community services".

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DD Book: a new electronic narcotic register : 08/06/2011 :

Pharmacists are required to maintain accurate and detailed records of all transactions involving S8 medications and have traditionally recorded these in a paper based narcotic register.

DD Book is a software application that allows computerisation of this  register.

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Poll: front of shop pharmacists : 08/06/2011 :

In a post to AusPharmList today, pharmacy business consultant Bruce Annabel suggests that the 'old' model of community pharmacy practice that sees multiple pharmacists in and around the dispensary, still employed by many pharmacies, is well past its use by date.

He advocates for a new model that would see pharmacists employed ' to engage customers, solve primary and minor problems and solution sell health related lines plus services such as DAA, soon to be available MUR, blood pressure, compliance etc.'

How does this sound to you? Please let us know by voting in this week's AusPharm poll.

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PHARMeFOOTY weekly wrap : 08/06/2011 :

AFL Round 11
 
AFL Round 11 saw 14 tippers select all the 8 winners. Sue Nguyen had the best margin tip and is this weeks winner. In 2nd place was Chris Colley from Findlay & Weymouth with Fiona Feehan of Eltham Chemmart in 3rd position.

NRL Round 13

NRL Round 13 saw 6 tippers pick all the 8 winners correctly. David Bulley from Priceline Pharmacy had the best margin tip and wins the weekly prize. Patrick Devine from Midtown Pharmacy was in 2nd place with Patti Davies of Medicross Pharmacy Ipswich in 3rd position.

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Rural placements valued by students : 08/06/2011 :

Eighty-five percent of 414 respondents to the recent National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA) Rural and Indigenous Affairs Survey rated rural clinical placements as ‘important’ or ‘very important’.

The survey sought information about pharmacy students’ perceptions of rural clinical placements, working in rural areas, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health education component of their course curriculum.

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SHPA speaks out in support of the PCEHR : 08/06/2011 :

SHPA President Sue Kirsa, pictured right, said yesterday that while recent mainstream press and pharmacy media have been trumpeting perceived shortfalls in the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) system the overwhelming benefits have been largely ignored.

SHPA says that the importance of medicines information being part of the PCEHR has been acknowledged from the outset and that medicines information will be a component of many clinical documents that become part of the PCEHR.

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PCHR: pharmacists a 'must' for Medicare Locals : 08/06/2011 :

The Pharmacist Coalition for Health Reform (PCHR) said yesterday that it welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement that 19 Medicare Locals will be implemented by July and encouraged it to formally integrate pharmacists into the scheme.
 
PCHR spokesperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Liesel Wett says that Medicare Locals could be more effective in helping people access healthcare if they incorporated pharmacists.

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Pharmacy Board Communiqué : 08/06/2011 :

The Pharmacy Board of Australia issues one of its regular post meeting communiqués yesterday. It covers:

• The Board’s recent Darwin visit
• Initiatives to streamline initial general registration and to address delayed approval of supervised practice applications for interns
• The Board’s updated English language policy which outlines additional exemptions to the English language skills registration standard

and more....    Read it here.

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Another Barnes article opposing pharmacist ownership of pharmacies : 07/06/2011 :

Terry Barnes was a senior adviser to Howard government health ministers Michael Wooldridge and Tony Abbott, and as a public servant had senior roles including being the principal drafter of the 1999 report of the National Competition Policy Review of Pharmacy Regulation (ownership). 

He's written a number of articles in recent times (including this one for AusPharm) highly critical of what he describes as the 'blatantly anti-competitive' ownership provisions and location rules of the Community Pharmacy Agreements. His latest missive was published yesterday in this week's eMJA.

Read it here. ([Free] registration required.)

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(Very) che*p Pfi*er generics : 07/06/2011 :

AusPharm's mail is that these prices will be ongoing with no minimum orders.

At these prices how many pharmacists will have the strength of their convictions to not support Pfizer?

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Priceline asthma consultation program a hit : 07/06/2011 :

More than 1,000 asthma sufferers from across Australia visited a Priceline Pharmacy in the first week of its asthma consultations program which launched last month.

The asthma consultation program is being run with the support of Asthma Australia and is part of Priceline’s ‘Live Well’ initiative, an ongoing program of  health consultations for new and existing customers, each of which focuses on specific health issues such as asthma management.

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First 15 Medicare Locals announced : 07/06/2011 :

Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon yesterday announced the organisations that will become the nation’s first Medicare Locals from 1 July 2011.

15 were announced yesterday with another 4 in Victoria to be announced within the next week following a request from Victoria to have more time to consider the Victorian boundaries.

All successful applicatants were chosen from high performing Divisions of General Practice, many working in consortia with other organisations, with established records in improving primary health care for their local community, and strong plans to improve local primary care services into the future.

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GSK discloses payments to Australian healthcare professionals : 06/06/2011 :

GlaxoSmithKline Australia today disclosed the aggregate amount of fees paid to Australian healthcare professionals and health-related organisations for all sponsorships, grants, speaking engagements and consulting services during the calendar year of 2010.

The total amount was $2,047,728 and covers all parts of the GSK business in Australia.

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SHPA revises clinical pharmacy staffing levels : 06/06/2011 :

SHPA has updated its Standards of Practice for Clinical Pharmacy1 to incorporate recent information.  The Standards list the ten activities pharmacists undertake to provide a comprehensive clinical pharmacy service to inpatients.  They also document the staffing required to deliver a clinical pharmacy service during normal business hours based on bed type.
 
The updated Supplement to the Standards recommends that one pharmacist, five-day week, eight-hour day, can provide clinical pharmacy services to 30 inpatients at most when the patients are at the lower end of the scale of need, and only 10-15 inpatients in critical care or specialty units.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Iron deficiency anaemia : 06/06/2011 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Iron deficiency anaemia

"The WHO defines anaemia as being characterised by a finding of a Haemoglobin (Hb) concentration of  <130 g/L in men, <120 g/L in women, and <110 g/L in pregnant women and preschool children. Clinical manifestations of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) include weakness, headache, irritability and fatigue. Less common symptoms include glossal pain, dry mouth, alopecia and generalised pruritus. Iron deficiency, without overt anaemia, is associated with cognitive impairment in pre-schoolers, teenagers and the elderly. The impact of even mild iron deficiency anaemia upon physical functioning of the elderly can be significant. A trial involving community dwelling elderly women found those with borderline Hb of 120–130 g/L performed worse than those with Hb 130–150 g/L on tests of walking speed, balance and ability to rise from a chair."

Click here to read the bulletin in full. The E‑Bulletins are archived on the AusPharmList website here.

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Reality of Chronic Pain: ‘Unbearable’ : 06/06/2011 :

According to a recent Pfizer Health Report, one in three Australians lives with chronic pain, a condition which they say is poorly understood, and which has led one in five to consider suicide.
 
Coralie Wales, President of Chronic Pain Australia believes the new statistics highlight the need for the federal and state governments to implement the National Pain Strategy.

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Pharmacists see bleak future : 03/06/2011 :

While there were some 'unusual' voting patterns in this week's AusPharm poll, the outcome was clear. Overwhelmingly, pharmacists would not recommend pharmacy as a career to students approaching tertiary education.

Even after adjusting for the voting irregularities in this week's poll, voter turnout (>500) was the highest ever by quite a margin.

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It’s 3am and Your GP is closed — Who Can You Call? : 03/06/2011 :

The Federal Government last week announced that Medibank has been appointed to be the operator for the after hours GP helpline that has recruited over 100 doctors.

Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon explained the after hours GP helpline is designed to make it easier for families to contact a doctor when they need to.

“Having a sick child is a worry for any parent. But, when that small cry for help comes at 3am, it can be even more concerning as many parents are left asking, ‘Who can I call for help?’,” Minister Roxon said.

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The Priceline Sisterhood : 03/06/2011 :

Priceline yesterday launched The Priceline Sisterhood, a national community program that has been developed to respond to the major health and wellbeing concerns of Australian women.  The initiative will raise awareness and funds for six charities that provide help and support to women in the areas of heart health, mental health, family wellbeing and fighting cancer.

The major health concerns were identified by Australia’s Biggest Health Check, a groundbreaking survey of more than 25,000 women.

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PSA national intern training program: second intake enrolments open : 02/06/2011 :

Enrolments for the 2011 Second Intake are now open for the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s specialist National Intern Training Program (NITP).

The NITP is predominately an online program including tailored face-to-face workshops, workplace-based assessments and practical-based projects which have been developed after close consultation with PSA members and previous interns to ensure that the content is relevant.

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