Pressure builds on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS)

As the pressure on the PBS grows, it remains imperative to find new and creative ways of getting the best value from our PBS dollars.  There is no doubt that the government is looking for ways to curtail the growth in the PBS budget.  In the recent Federal Budget we saw the thresholds for the PBS safety net increased and patient contributions go up.  These measures have slowed down the rate of increase, but if past experience is anything to go by, this slow down will be temporary.

Increasing the price of pharmaceuticals to the community is a very heavy-handed and possibly counterproductive way of curtailing PBS growth. It may lead to patients not taking essential medication causing hospitalisation or more debilitating and expensive treatments in the future. Recently, others have suggested �cheaper drugs� ie; generics as one option. These suggestions are heavy handed and do not take into account patient outcomes. New and innovative approaches that do not undermine patient care must be found. ERM is one such approach.

Internationally, a focus on quality prescribing supported with accurate and timely data, best available evidence and peer support have shown positive resource implications in other health systems. Similar approaches to ERM in New Zealand have delivered from a 3:1 and from a 5:1 gain in financial terms (i.e. for every dollar spent - five are saved). In some cases the savings to the nation�s pharmaceuticals have been even higher - particularly in the early years of activity.

The Divisions involved in this proposal have decided to partner with the Phoenix Group from New Zealand. The Phoenix Group consists of three Independent Practitioner Associations (IPAs) � Pegasus, ProCare and Rotorua, who have been integrally involved in similar programs in New Zealand. We have done this for two reasons, the first and most important is to be able to utilize their ten years of experience in developing and rolling out our preferred model and secondly to be able to secure their investment into the project. The Phoenix Group has significant experience in methods of encouraging active doctor involvement and in delivering data in a user-friendly format.
The Phoenix Group is currently considering taking the financial risk for the Central Office function (in return for a share of any savings), which leaves the Divisions carrying the financial risk for their division costs only. This clearly shows the Phoenix Group�s confidence in the model.