THE CASE
Dispensing software is provided to all Australian pharmacies by just a handful of fiercely competitive companies. The performance and parameters of this software is regulated by a myriad of State and Federal agencies, the most important one being Medicare Australia which administers the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
In about March 2007, the previous Minister for Health, Tony Abbott, mandated changes to the pricing and structure of the PBS that are due to take effect on 01/08/2008. To allow pharmacists to dispense medicines in accordance with these changes the dispensing software vendors had to make huge, unfunded changes to their software. Having made these changes the dispensing software vendors were obliged to obtain certification (NOI - notice of integration) from Medicare Australia.
This is the problem.
To test the thousands of changes listed for 01/08/2008 Medicare provided a sample of three drugs (yes 3!), and five patients. The software vendors were not unreasonably expecting a complete file. To make matters worse these sample drugs were priced using the July formula for calculation rather than the new August pricing scheme.
But it gets even sillier.
At least some of the test patients provided had invalid Medicare numbers. Medicare Australia, of all organisations, should be able to create a valid Medicare number. Next, the SafetyNet numbers provided by Medicare expired 31/12/2006! Naturally enough the various dispensing systems just rejected this patient data.
Then the icing on the cake. The test data did not allow for testing:
Dentists Prescriptions
Optometrists Prescriptions
Section 100 drugs (Highly specific and very expensive items)
Creams and ointments prepared from scratch by pharmacists
Department of Veterans Affairs scripts for unlisted items
Medicines like children's antibiotics that the pharmacist has to make up.
So in other words, despite having more than a year's lead time, Medicare Australia could not provide adequate test data for their own initiative, but the dispensing software vendors were expected to do it in a couple of weeks. If this change goes smoothly on 01/08/2008 it is BECAUSE of the competence of the privately owned dispensing software providers and DESPITE the pathetic efforts of Medicare Australia.
MY VERDICT
Nicola Roxon please take these people out the back and bang their heads together very hard, and don't blame the dispensing software vendors is of goes horribly wrong.
NOTE
I hold documentation of all of the above.
Dispensing software is provided to all Australian pharmacies by just a handful of fiercely competitive companies. The performance and parameters of this software is regulated by a myriad of State and Federal agencies, the most important one being Medicare Australia which administers the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
In about March 2007, the previous Minister for Health, Tony Abbott, mandated changes to the pricing and structure of the PBS that are due to take effect on 01/08/2008. To allow pharmacists to dispense medicines in accordance with these changes the dispensing software vendors had to make huge, unfunded changes to their software. Having made these changes the dispensing software vendors were obliged to obtain certification (NOI - notice of integration) from Medicare Australia.
This is the problem.
To test the thousands of changes listed for 01/08/2008 Medicare provided a sample of three drugs (yes 3!), and five patients. The software vendors were not unreasonably expecting a complete file. To make matters worse these sample drugs were priced using the July formula for calculation rather than the new August pricing scheme.
But it gets even sillier.
At least some of the test patients provided had invalid Medicare numbers. Medicare Australia, of all organisations, should be able to create a valid Medicare number. Next, the SafetyNet numbers provided by Medicare expired 31/12/2006! Naturally enough the various dispensing systems just rejected this patient data.
Then the icing on the cake. The test data did not allow for testing:
Dentists Prescriptions
Optometrists Prescriptions
Section 100 drugs (Highly specific and very expensive items)
Creams and ointments prepared from scratch by pharmacists
Department of Veterans Affairs scripts for unlisted items
Medicines like children's antibiotics that the pharmacist has to make up.
So in other words, despite having more than a year's lead time, Medicare Australia could not provide adequate test data for their own initiative, but the dispensing software vendors were expected to do it in a couple of weeks. If this change goes smoothly on 01/08/2008 it is BECAUSE of the competence of the privately owned dispensing software providers and DESPITE the pathetic efforts of Medicare Australia.
MY VERDICT
Nicola Roxon please take these people out the back and bang their heads together very hard, and don't blame the dispensing software vendors is of goes horribly wrong.
NOTE
I hold documentation of all of the above.
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