A Continued Dispensing Emergency Measure National Health (Continued Dispensing – Emergency Measure) Determination 2023 has been put in place from 22 December 2023 to temporarily support patients affected
by the flooding disaster in Far North Queensland to continue to access their PBS subsidised
medicines. Until this Emergency Measure ceases on 1 March 2024, it will provide access
to a wider range of PBS medicines than under the normal Continued Dispensing arrangements,
covering most medicines on the General Schedule of the PBS. A complete list of all
the affected PBS items is available for
Pharmacists have been advised to take additional steps when processing claims for the new items included in expanded Continued Dispensing arrangements. System updates to PBS Online have been implemented by Services Australia at very short notice to allow for the payment of claims for PBS supplies made under these emergency arrangements from the date of commencement.
The Department acknowledges that third-party dispensing software used by pharmacies to claim payment for PBS supplies may not be able to be updated to enable the lodgement of claims in respect of items on the expanded list of medicines. In these circumstances, pharmacies are advised that they may submit their Continued Dispensing claims that are not covered under the existing (ongoing Continued Dispensing) arrangements instead at the next available opportunity when the dispensing software has been updated, which should be on or before 1 February 2024.
Pharmacies have also been advised to record all information normally required for a PBS Continued Dispensing claim. For items covered under these emergency Continued Dispensing arrangements that require authority approval from Services Australia, the emergency authority approval number A2022CD should be used. For all claiming enquiries, please contact the PBS General Line via telephone number 13 22 90.
Due to the urgency of implementation of these measures, PBS data cannot be updated and distributed in the usual formats (XML and TXT) until the February 2024 update. For this reason, pharmacists have been advised that the third-party dispensing software used by their pharmacy to claim payment for PBS supplies may not have received the updates necessary to support contemporaneous lodgement of Continued Dispensing claims in respect of items on the expanded list of medicines. Where these circumstances exist, pharmacies may submit their Continued Dispensing claims that are not covered under existing (ongoing Continued Dispensing) arrangements claims instead at the next available opportunity, which should be on or before 1 February 2024. Pharmacies have been advised that they may wish to contact their respective software provider to enquire about the timeframes applying to these software updates.