PSA Releases Guidelines, Standards And Training For Patient Medication Profile Program, Australia

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 02 May 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia released its professional guidelines and standards on Medication Profiling Service as well as training materials that underpin the new Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement Patient Medication Profile (PMP) Program.

The guidelines, standards and training materials are available to all pharmacists free of charge on the PSA website. Printed copies of the guidelines and standards are being sent to all PSA members this month. They are also included in the PMP Program's Pharmacy Readiness Kit (PRK) mailed to all Section 90 pharmacies by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

PSA's guidelines are designed to provide advice or guidance to pharmacists on process issues, good practice behaviour, and how responsibilities may be best fulfilled. The standards outline the minimum service requirements to ensure a desirable level of performance or results. The guidelines and standards need to be considered side-by-side and they have been consolidated into a single publication.

In conjunction with the release of the guidelines and standards, PSA has developed a training program with an assessment component. Completion of the training program and assessment is a mandatory requirement for pharmacists participating in the PMP Program.

Training can be completed online. Pharmacists will first need to register with PSA for access to the material. This can be done online at http://www.psa.org.au/4cpa and will take one to two working days. Pharmacists are encouraged to register now so that access to the material can be obtained as soon as possible.

The PMP service involves a pharmacist establishing a full medication history of the patient, assessing their understanding of the medicines they use as well as any apparent problems or difficulties, and providing a current medication profile to the patient along with appropriate counselling.

The PMP Program is the next professional pharmacy service to roll out as part of the Better Community Health Initiative of the Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement. It is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and delivered in partnership between the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.

For more information on the PMP Program visit http://www.psa.org.au/4cpa.

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia