Quick Start: How to Dispense Nurse Practitioner and Midwife Scripts

From 1 November 2010, to dispense a script from a nurse practitioner or midwife:

  1. In the Supply Type box, select either Nurse Practitioner or Midwife, as appropriate.

  2. Select the item required.

    The Item Presc and Item Disp drop-down lists will show items that nurse practitioners or midwives might prescribe either as PBS or private items, depending on their qualifications and formularies.

    A PBS code next to an item indicates that it can be prescribed as a PBS benefit by the selected prescriber type at the specified date of prescribing.

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Details

This article covers the following information on Closing the Gap functions in SUREfire Dispensing:

Overview

From 1 November 2010, midwives and nurse practitioners authorised as PBS prescribers will be able to write prescriptions for a range of medicines under the PBS. These prescriptions will be similar in many respects to those written by medical prescribers, in that repeats and deferred prescriptions are allowed, Regulations 24 and 25 apply, increased quantities and repeats can be prescribed, and approval can be sought to prescribe authority required items in the same manner as for medical practitioners. Additionally, nurse practitioners and midwives will be able to order items for emergency bag use.

The items that a particular nurse practitioner or midwife is able to prescribe depends on their qualifications and formularies, and is determined by national or state regulatory and registering authorities.

Unlike previous dental and optometrical PBS listings which have had different PBS codes to the corresponding items for use by medical practitioners, items which can be prescribed by nurse practitioners and midwives have the same PBS codes as medical practitioners.

Nurse Practitioner and Midwife Prescription Forms

Prescription forms for use by nurse practitioners and midwives will be similar to those used by other prescribers, but will have a different colour.

Personalised prescription forms will have either an NP (for nurse practitioners) or MW (for midwives) indicator after the prescriber number, to assist in identification of the prescriber type.

NOTE: The NP or MW is an indicator only. It is not part of the prescriber number, and should not be entered into the prescriber number box in Doctor Details.

On non personalised prescription forms, nurse practitioners and midwives will indicate their prescriber type by ticking the appropriate box on the form.

Prescriber Types

The new prescriber types of Nurse Practitioner and Midwife have been added to the Doctor Details screen. Prescriber type information is used during dispensing to check, and if appropriate adjust, the supply type.

When adding or updating prescribers, tick the corresponding Prescriber Type checkbox or checkboxes.

Dispensing Nurse Practitioner and Midwife Prescriptions

Nurse Practitioner Prescriptions

To dispense a nurse practitioner prescription, select Nurse Practitioner in the Supply Type box. You can:

  • Press A when the cursor is in the box.
  • Press N repeatedly when the cursor is in the box until Nurse Practitioner is shown.
    This cycles through Dental, Nurse Practitioner and Non-Prescription.
  • Use the drop down panel.
    Do this for combinations such as Nurse Practitioner Unoriginal, Nurse Practitioner Emergency Bag, etc.

Midwife Prescriptions

To dispense a midwife prescription, select Midwife in the Supply Type box. You can:

  • Press M when the cursor is in the box.
  • Use the drop down panel.
    Do this for combinations such as Midwife Unoriginal, Midwife Emergency Bag, etc.

Selecting Nurse Practitioner and Midwife Items

When the Supply Type is Nurse Practitioner or Midwife, the Item Presc and Item Disp drop down lists show items that nurse practitioners or midwives might prescribe as either PBS or private items.

A PBS code next to an item indicates that it can be prescribed as a PBS benefit by the selected prescriber type at the specified date of prescribing. An N in the Rstr column indicates a nurse practitioner item if such a prescriber is selected; similarly, a W indicates a midwife item if a midwife prescriber is selected.

If you change the supply type after you've selected a PBS item, SUREfire Dispensing attempts to select the appropriate new item automatically. If it is unable to do so, for instance if there is no PBS listing suitable for the new supply type, an error message is displayed and you are required to select the appropriate drug manually.