Pharmacy supplier to aged care overcharging.

[PhilT]

Welcome to the Community @Felix1

Your experience should interest many readers. While there are some related topics I am going to keep yours separate as it is a different aspect of the many issues surrounding aged care.

Aged Care Managed Facilities - medical care provided

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Aged Care: Royal Commission and Beyond

Aged care failures have been widely reported for yonks with the responsible governments wringing their hands and giving the dodgy providers a wink wink and sometimes a nudge. Maybe they learnt something from the banking and financial services RC, that dealing with problems can be less politically painful than ignoring them and having it hit the fan, as well as what they are supposed to be about in the first place. Some of the quotes in this article are telling. My fav is the PM (the one on…

@Felix1

The feedback I received

What was the aged care facility’s response? I presume they are at liberty to contract medicines from whatever provider they wish, or at least that is how it was prior to the current system being implemented.

@Felix1

It appears that the aged care facility communicate directly with the pharmacy when medication is required and the pharmacy dispense and then deliver the medication.

That is the norm and from an operational matter is usually close to but rarely optimal. It avoids meds being missed/out due to human error. Most facilities get a prepack for ‘Mr.X’ in a pack including everything needed in a daily morning, noon, and night blister pack, rather than say a box of Y, another box of Z, and yet more, each individually packaged with varied doses. There is often (usually) a charge for that service. For low cost meds it might seem a significant ‘add-on’ cost.

@Felix1

not providing the cheaper PBS medication when it was available.

Are you meaning generic meds and brand name meds or does he require meds not on the PBS list, or has he been prescribed non-PBS meds when there are suitable PBS meds?

My understanding is that if a GP ticks ‘write as prescribed/no substitution’ the dispensing pharmacist is not able to provide a generic or alternative regardless of customer wishes. When there is face-to-face interaction with a customer that would be explained so the customer could deal with the GP. When a facility does the ordering they order per the GP script. Good practice should, as you indicate, call your attention for followup, but that is on the facility not on just on the pharmacy since the facility was doing the ordering.

@Felix1

They have not provided valid reasons as to why the invoicing discrepancies have been made or provided any assurances that they will ensure they do not happen again.

The best any business would do is improve their processes; I doubt any pharmacy could guarantee ‘it’ would not happen again if only because humans are in the process.

That being written, thank you for flagging your experience. Hopefully it will get visibility and others having similar responsibilities (or letting the facilities operate opaquely under their trust) might take a look and see what is happening re their loved one’s care.