FACT SHEET
PBS MEDICATION CHART FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HOSPITALS
December 2014
Overview
On 30 November 2013, the Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP announced that
the Australian Government will improve patient safety and care by removing
unnecessary red tape for clinicians for the prescribing, processing and claiming for
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines.
The introduction of paper-based PBS Hospital Medication Charts (HMC) will
provide an additional PBS option for health practitioners to prescribe PBS medicines,
and for pharmacy providers to claim for PBS medicines in the PBS hospital care
setting.
Objective
The PBS HMC for Public and Private Hospitals Initiative (the Initiative) aims to
improve the safety of medication management in Australian hospitals through
standardised medication charting and medication management practice. It helps to
reduce the administrative burden on hospitals by providing an alternate option for
the prescribing, dispensing, and claiming of PBS medicines in these settings.
Implementation
PBS claiming using medication charts will be implemented in two phases:

In Phase 1, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
(the Commission) will develop a standardised PBS/Repatriation PBS (RPBS)
compliant paper-based medication chart. Trials of this chart will operate in
selected private hospitals from 1 April 2015 and in selected public hospitals from
May 2015. The objective is for the supply and claiming of PBS medicines from
medication charts in all public and private hospitals to be available by 30 June
2016.

In Phase 2, a standardised electronic medication chart will be developed for use
in hospitals. Trials of this chart will operate in selected public and private
hospitals from mid-2016 to allow for fully integrated electronic prescribing and
claiming of PBS medicines in the hospital setting by March 2017.
Key Features
The Initiative will enable the prescribing, dispensing and claiming of eligible PBS
and RPBS medicines directly from a patient’s medication chart in public and private
hospitals without the need for a separate PBS or RPBS stationery form.
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The HMC will enable the prescribing, dispensing, and claiming of the following
PBS and RPBS medicines:

General Schedule PBS and RPBS medicines;

Authority Required (STREAMLINED) PBS and RPBS medicines;

Authority Required (telephone/electronically approved) PBS/RPBS medicines;
and

PBS and RPBS discharge medicines under PBS Reform arrangements.
The PBS HMC can also be used to prescribe PBS and RPBS Section 100 Infusible
Chemotherapy medicines and Section 100 Highly Specialised Drugs. Under the new
arrangements, controlled medicines (e.g. ‘Schedule 8’ medicines) are in scope and
must only be prescribed and supplied in accordance with state and territory
legislation. These medicines can be charted on the PBS hospital medication chart as a
medicine administration record.
Complex Authority Required and Authority Required (written only) PBS and RPBS
medicines must only be dispensed in accordance with the Department of Human
Services (Medicare) or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs prior approval processes.
These medicines can be charted on the PBS hospital medication chart as a medicine
administration record.
How will it work in practice?
The PBS HMC is another PBS option for the supply and claiming of medicines in the
PBS hospital-care setting. The diagram below outlines how the Initiative will work in
practice.
ADMISSION
PBS-approved Hospital Provider
PBS/RPBS PRESCRIBER
Approved Prescriber
PBS/RPBS PRESCRIPTION
(PBS/RPBS patient)
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) Standard Medication Chart (PBS/RPBS compliant)
PBS/RPBS-subsidised medicine order
PBS/RPBS PHARMACY/HOSPITAL SUPPLIER
PBS/RPBS PRESCRIPTION DISCHARGE
PBS Reform arrangements
PBS/RPBS
PBS/RPBS REIMBURSEMENT
DHS claiming system
Supports the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record
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Further information
For further information on the announcements of the Initiative, please visit:

The Prime Minister’s website

The Budget website
For further information and updates about the Initiative, please visit:

The ACSQHC website

The PBS website

The DHS Medicare website
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