National Prescribing Service

Established in March 1998, the National Prescribing Service (NPS) is a non-profit organisation, funded by the Government of Australia's Department of Health and Ageing. Since July 2010, the organisation has been officially known as NPS.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Historical success 3 Services run by NPS 3.1 Medicines Line 3.2 Therapeutic Advice and Information Service 4 Publications 5 References 6 External links

Overview

The NPS was founded in 1998 as part of an Australian Government shift in health policy to address issues around Quality Use of Medicines.^[1] NPS' initial mandate was to reduce cost of medicines to Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme by providing clinically-reviewed independent information about medicines^[2] to doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals.^[3] Many of these materials relate to new drugs or more complex grey-areas in the prescription process.^[4]

The NPS's stated goals are to:

• look at challenges and problems with the ways medicines are used or not used
• help doctors with questions they may have about best practice
• help people understand how to take their medicines safely and effectively, if a medicine is needed

More recently, the NPS has assumed a secondary mandate of promoting discussion of basic medicine-related issues in the community, launching its "Be Medicinewise" campaign in January 2011. The campaign was broadcast across a wide spectrum of media channels and addressed common health issues such as lower back pain, antibiotics and the active ingredient of medicines.

Although the NPS claims to have brought wide-ranging savings to the Australian health system,^[5] critics have questioned the actual causes and ramifications of such savings.^[6] The organisation also came under fire in mid-2010 for its decision to replace its telephone-line pharmacy staff with nurses,^[7] which sparked controversy over what many claimed was a desertion of the pharmacists whose interests the NPS claimed to serve.^[8][9]

Historical success

In the period between 1998 to 2004, 90% of all GPs were actively involved in one or more educational activities run by the NPS, while approximately sixty per cent of GPs and pharmacists rated the NPS' printed educational materials as good or very good.^[10]

NPS activities have generated substantial financial savings to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, with the organisation claiming that its information and education campaigns have reduced unnecessary prescriptions and improved prescribing decisions within the medical community.^[5] Various health professionals argue that, despite potential conflicts between cost-saving and the organisation's Quality Use of Medicines mandate, the NPS will continue to improve on the current PBS system.^[11]

The NPS has also developed programs and resources to help consumers and health practitioners to discuss health issues^[12] and improve the QUM within Australia.^[13]

Services run by NPS

Medicines Line

The NPS runs Medicines Line, a phone information service operated by pharmacists at Mater Health Services. It provides consumers with access to information about prescription, over-the-counter and complementary (herbal/"natural"/vitamin/mineral) medicines.^[14][15]

Therapeutic Advice and Information Service

The NPS funded the Therapeutic Advice and Information Service (TAIS), a medicine information line aimed specifically at health professionals and staffed by specialist drug-information pharmacists, until its discontinuation in mid-2010. The TAIS had been established to provide information and advice regarding medicines being covered in the media as well as news about side effects and drug interactions, but was discontinued due to a lack of Government funding.^[16] Despite the relatively low volume of inquires through the TAIS, many pharmacists felt that its discontinuation would substantially impact how easily pharmacists and doctors could receive crucial medicines information.^[17][18]

Publications

NPS produces several publications for health professionals including:

• Australian Prescriber: a bimonthly journal, first published in 1975. Previously, Australian health professionals submitted articles to the British Prescribers' Journal. AP was developed to provide a forum of discussion for issues relevant to Australian practice. It was published by the Australian Department of Health until the NPS assumed responsibility for the journal in 2002.
• NPS News
• NPS RADAR: an independent review of new medicines recently added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

Publications for consumers include:

• Medicines Talk: a free quarterly newsletter written by consumers for consumers, that offers reliable, accurate information and useful hints on managing your medicines.
• Medicines Update: consumer-friendly information about new medicines recently added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
• Community Update: a regular newsletter that keeps community organisations and consumers updated on what NPS and others are doing to promote QUM.

References

External links

• Official website
• Australian Prescriber
• NPS RADAR