5-Minute Catchup

The Check-Up | 30 June 2022

Episode Summary

The Check-Up is a weekly news segment of the 5-Minute Catchup, bringing notable news in a convenient medium.

Episode Notes

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) | The Closing the Gap (CTG) - PBS Co-payment Program

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Co-payment Measure (CTG Scripts) - Community HealthPathways ACT and SNSW username; together | Password: forhealth

Cervical Screening - Community HealthPathways ACT and SNSW

National Cervical Screening Program updated guidelines

ACT Health - Telehealth prescribing - information for health practitioners

ACT Government - Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008

Department of Health - Fact Sheet – National Health Plan A Guide for Prescribers

Capital Health Network - Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Request Form

ATAGI clinical guidance on vaccination against Monkeypox

Capital Health Network - Educational Events

Questions? Contact our Primary Care Team via email and we'll be in touch.
primarycare@chnact.org.au

Episode Transcription

Welcome to the five-minute catch up, my name is Greta Welin from the Primary Care Team, and this is your weekly Check-up.

To start things off, some information on the Closing the Gap PBS Co-payment Measure, or CTG Scripts.

CTG Scripts help reduce the cost of PBS medicines for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. Why is it important?The cost of medicines is a significant barrier to improving access to medicines for First Nation peoples. This measure enables patients to keep up with their treatment without the high cost, while also preventing setbacks and hospitalisation.

As of 1 July 2021, practices can no longer register patients for the CTG PBS Co-payment program through PIP IHI. They must now be registered online through HPOS and the patient’s chronic disease status does not matter.

The grace period for registration to the Program via HPOS ends today, the 30 June 2022. All practices are urged to check if eligible patients are currently registered through the HPOS portal. If patients are not formally registered, their CTG annotated PBS prescriptions will be rejected at the time of dispensing. More information is available through the links below.

From 1 July 2022, the National Cervical Screening Program, or NCSP, will expand screening test options, offering self-collection as a choice to all people eligible for cervical screening.

Both self-collection and clinician collected samples must be accessed through a health care provider. These changes mean that health care providers may start to see an increase in the volume of requests from patients to use self-collection as an option for their cervical screening test.

The NCSP guidelines have been reviewed and updated to support these changes and will come into effect from 1 July 2022. The updated guidelines bring together the best available evidence to prevent, diagnose and manage cervical cancer, providing recommendations for health care providers with patients in specific situations. A link to the updated NCSP guidelines and Cervical Screening HealthPathway is available below.

A reminder that as of 31 March 2022, the temporary digital image prescription rules have changed. For the past 2 years, due to COVID-19, image-based prescribing arrangements were put in place where prescribers did not need to send the original prescription to the pharmacy, but they were to retain the prescription for at least 2 years. These arrangements for image-based prescribing have now ended, except with hospitals, which will continue until 31 March 2023. Whilst prescribers can still fax a copy of the paper prescription to the pharmacy, they must deliver the original prescription within 7 days (as per the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008). More information can be found in the links below.

Now it’s time for the titbits…

Living with COVID PPE bundles are now available until 30 September 2022 and can continue to be ordered through the link below.
ATAGI has released guidance on the use of the smallpox vaccine for protection against and post exposure for monkeypox virus infection. A link is available below.
The Australian Government has launched it’s Take on Winter campaign encouraging Australians to be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination and to have their flu vaccination this winter.

Finally, Capital Health Network invites all vaccination providers to attend the upcoming ACT Health travel vaccination education evening & JEV clinical update webinar on Thursday 7 July.

Also coming up is the Basic concepts in Lymphoma (Haematology & Radiation Oncology Perspective) webinar with ICON Cancer Centre on Tuesday 19 July. Registration details for these and other events are in the link below.

And that wraps up your weekly check-up. Did you know that Capital Health Network is always available to answer your queries? If you have any questions about any of the information in this podcast, get in contact with us via email at primarycare@chnact.org.au

Our Quality Improvement Team here at Capital Health Network can assist you and your practice in developing QuIK Cycle Activities – a Plan-Do-Study-Act Quality Improvement Activity which could award participating General Practitioners with RACGP CPD Points by undertaking Self-Directed Quality Improvement. Get in contact with our team to discuss your opportunities for Continuous Quality Improvement.

On behalf of everyone here at Capital Health Network through the ACT’s PHN Program we thank you for tuning in and we’ll see you next Thursday for your next Check-up.

LINKS