POLICY ON REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS The Hopkins Street Clinic has a new policy on repeat prescriptions. The usual procedure will involve you, the patient, seeing the doctor for a brief prescription visit equivalent to a brief consultation. The visit must fit in between other booked consultations. Therefore it must be restricted to the provision of the prescription requested. It is important that you read this notice carefully in order to understand how this new system works.
The reasons for this new policy are:-
- Medico-legal requirements
- Time
- Expense
Your doctor has a medico-legal obligation to peruse the notes, ensure the prescription is appropriate, and prepare it. This takes as much time and effort on the part of the doctor and staff as a brief consultation. Accordingly it should be rewarded as such. 6-8 such requests in one day would represent an extra hour of unpaid work for one doctor.
Medico-legal requirements
Current prescribing regulations under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) allow for standard quantities and repeats appropriate for most acute and chronic conditions.
In almost all circumstances your doctor will consider that it is inappropriate for a repeat prescription to be given without a consultation. This is because your medical condition requires review. A subsequent (later) appointment may be satisfactory.
Repeat prescriptions for narcotics (strong pain killers) and sedatives are almost never appropriate without review. State prescribing regulations are strict in relation to these drugs and must be adhered to.
Time & Expense
Repeat prescriptions for Authority drugs usually involve more time spent in obtaining telephone authorities. This is costly. The alternative is to wait for a week or more for government approval to be obtained by post.
We request that at least 24 hours notice be given for repeat prescriptions. The whole process takes time and care. If your doctor is away then another doctor will have to review your notes in order to ensure that the prescription is appropriate.
Why are we doing this now?
Many General Practices have charged for repeat prescriptions for many years. We have not done so at Hopkins Street Clinic. However increasing practice costs and the failure of Medicare rebates to keep pace with such costs have forced us to adopt a new policy.
Medicare does not permit us to charge a rebatable fee unless we see you face-to-face. You or your agent will need to visit the Clinic in order to pick up the prescription. Prescriptions will only be posted under exceptional circumstances.
In order to levy an appropriate fee to offset our costs for providing this service we have three options:
1. You attend the Clinic at an agreed time, see your doctor and obtain the prescription. A charge will be levied equivalent to the Medicare rebate for a brief consultation. This will cost you nothing personally.
2. You or your agent attend the Clinic to obtain a prescription but do not see a doctor. A charge will be levied which is not rebatable by Medicare. This will cost you $5 personally ($3 for pensioners).
3. Requests for prescriptions to be posted will incur a charge of $6 ($4 for pensioners). This will cost you personally.
Please remember that these prescription visits must be fitted in between or after normal consultations. There will not usually be enough time to discuss other issues. If you wish to talk to your doctor about other matters you will need to book a normal consultation, probably at a later time. If other matters need to be discussed at the time of the prescription visit then our normal consultation charges will apply. If you have any difficulty understanding this document please ask your doctor.
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