PSA Guidelines, Standards And Training Underpin Patient Medication Profile Program

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 07 May 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has released its professional guidelines, standards and associated training materials for pharmacists that underpin the new Patient Medication Profile (PMP) Program.

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 (PSA).

The guidelines, standards and training materials are available to all pharmacists free of charge on the PSA' s website at http://www.psa.org.au/4CPA. Printed copies of the guidelines and standards are included in the PMP Program's Pharmacy Readiness Kit (PRK). A copy of the PRK is being mailed to all Section 90 pharmacies and is also available online from the Guild's website at http://www.guild.org.au.

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.

PSA President Brian Grogan said the Society believed the PMP Program was a valuable addition to the suite of remunerated professional services that were in the process of being rolled out.

"PSA believes the Program supports the trend of delivering professional services through community pharmacy and it dovetails with other professional programs such as Home Medicines Reviews and Dose Administration Aids," Mr Grogan said.

"The provision of medication profile services is likely to improve their quality use of medicines, and reduce adverse drug events.

"The patient will have the opportunity to sit down with their pharmacist to discuss all their medications, when they are to be taken or used and a simple explanation of what each medicine is expected to do.

"PSA' s guidelines and training 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, standards and training should be considered side-by-side."

"The PMP Program is being rolled out in a way that will allow an initial evaluation of which patients would most benefit from this service.

"It is important to note that the Profile will include over-the-counter and complementary medicines as well as prescription medicines to ensure the patient has a complete picture of all of their medicines."

The training program, which includes an assessment, is a mandatory requirement for all pharmacists participating in the PMP Program.

Training can be completed online. Pharmacists will first need to register with the 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.

"PSA has been pleased to work with the Guild and the Department of Health and Ageing to develop this service. We are proud of the high quality materials we have created and I am confident these will result in great benefits for the Australian community," Mr Grogan said.

For more information on the PMP Program visit PSA's website at http://www.psa.org.au/4CPA or the Guild's website.

The Guild website includes the Pharmacy Readiness Kit as well as a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia is the organisation that represents the professional interests of Australia's 18,000 practising pharmacists. It provides standards of practice, education, training and practice support for pharmacists and helps members of the profession to deliver the best health care to their patients.

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia