Page 51 - Retail Pharmacy November/Decemeber 2020

50 ANNUAL REPORT FROM PAGE 49 This is an important reform measure that could be made permanent to assist patients, recognising it is part of community pharmacists’ full scope of practice. Continued dispensing ticks the boxes as a smart long-term reform that governments at both state/territory and federal levels should be pursuing. The Covid-19 experience also highlights other areas where the valuable network of community pharmacists can be utilised to the benefit of patients and the wider health system. For example, embedding community pharmacists in primary healthcare through the establishment of an in-pharmacy consultation style model for professional services has tangible benefits beyond the Covid-19 period for patients, the wider health system and the public purse. This is not an untested experiment: community pharmacists are highly trained and are already providing services. Australia lags similar international jurisdictions in utilising community pharmacists in this way. Another transformative reform that was already underway but has been accelerated because of Covid-19 is the use of electronic prescriptions (e-scripts) as an alternative to traditional paper-based prescriptions. The benefits of e-scripts are obvious: prescribing and dispensing medicines can be more efficient through a reduction in prescribing and dispensing errors and removing the need for handling and storing a physical paper prescription. Moreover, e-scripts complement services such as telehealth (another innovation that has accelerated during the Covid-19 period) in overall patient care. There is some way to go in e-script implementation – with e scripts being implemented in Covid-19 hotspot areas before being more widely utilised. The Active Script List model of e-scripts will enable community pharmacists, authorised by their patients, to access an up to date and complete record of currently prescribed medicines, creating benefits for medication management and safety. The ‘digitalisation’ of many aspects of healthcare provision will continue beyond 2020, with recent surveys of the community pharmacy network indicating an increasing interest in adopting technologies such as artificial intelligence, further use of robotics and click-and-collect facilities. Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA) The Covid-19 period has overlapped with the beginning of the 7CPA. The Guild secured an estimated $1.132 billion increase in dispensing remuneration for community pharmacies relative to the 6CPA for above co-payment prescriptions dispensed. Community pharmacy programs funding will also grow over the life of the 7CPA. Each five-year agreement has encapsulated some reform and innovation with patients in mind. The 7CPA is no different. For example, the 7CPA recognises the Guild’s support for the development of the government’s 10-year Primary Health Care Plan. Moreover, the 7CPA provides the foundation for measures to enhance innovation that improve patients’ access to medicines, information and other health services. Areas of focus will include: • eHealth and e-prescribing initiatives. • Measures that promote access to affordable medicines. • Mental health related initiatives. • Initiatives to be developed in response to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. • Enhanced pharmacy programs assessed as being suitable for ongoing funding. The 7CPA also provides the backbone for pharmacy viability during these turbulent and highly uncertain times, giving confidence to the millions of patients that rely on local and accessible healthcare that community pharmacies have always provided. For example, a dispensing remuneration guarantee has been introduced for the first time. This will ensure there is no repeat of the shortfall in total dispensing remuneration that occurred over the 6CPA, providing certainty to both the community pharmacy network and the federal government. Conclusion: a post pandemic future As expected, around eight in 10 community pharmacies are refocused on increasing already high standard hygiene practices for customers and staff. More fundamentally, most community pharmacists have indicated they’re likely to restructure their offerings to meet changing consumer needs in a post pandemic environment. YOY change in number of patients (2020 vs 2019) vs Covid cases Source: GuildData (n = 397 pharmacies), www. covid19data.com.au Week Unique Patients % New Weekly Change COVID Cases 1 1% - 2 2% - 3 0% 4 4 0% 8 5 3% 3 6 6% - 7 4% 5 8 5% 8 9 8% 52 10 14% 217 11 32% 1,055 12 15% 2,632 13 -2% 1,709 14 -12% 631 15 2% 476 16 5% 104 17 -12% 86 18 -6% 140 19 -4% 109 20 17% 60 21 -7% 80 22 14% 61 23 3% 59 24 4% 140 25 35% 224 26 -5% 573 27 -2% 1,345 28 -1% 2,003 29 9% 2,596 30 0% 3,515 31 -3% 3,189 32 -1% 2,204 33 -16% 1,524 34 0% 858 35 -5% 609 36 2% 371 37 -4% 248 RETAIL PHARMACY • NOV/DEC 2020 Innovation is occurring at the individual business level, with examples of some pharmacies setting up triage desks at the entrance to their premises, enhancing home deliveries, mobile EFTPOS and click and collect, and forming closer relationships with other healthcare providers, especially medical specialists and community care organisations. The path to community pharmacy premises becoming integrated health destinations continues, with a greater range of prescribing options, including, for example, providing consultation rooms staffed by pharmacists and other health professionals. The challenge now is for policy and decision-makers at all levels of government in Australia to recognise the valuable contribution community pharmacies have made during the Covid-19 period and to embed these successes through long-term reforms that better utilise the community pharmacy network to deliver primary healthcare in an accessible and effective way to patients.