For over six decades, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) has provided all Australians with reliable, timely and affordable access to a wide range of medicines.

Over this time the PBS has expanded from providing subsidised medicines purely via community pharmacies, to providing medicines in public and private hospital settings.

The supply, use and funding of PBS medicines in hospitals is complex. AHA was engaged to provide the Department with insight and understanding about how the PBS and its sub-programs are used in public and private hospitals.

The review:

• Described and profiled the range of different arrangements used to procure, purchase, prescribe, dispense, and claim PBS benefits in public and private hospitals
• Reported on operational issues faced by state/territory governments and private hospital operators in relation to PBS benefits in hospitals
• Assisted in developing options for alternative risk-sharing arrangements between the Commonwealth and public and private hospital operators, to contribute to PBS sustainability.

Review tasks included:

• Literature and document review
• Stakeholder consultation, including in-depth interviews with:
  • Commonwealth and state/territory government representatives
  • Public hospital and private hospital pharmacy providers
  • Pharmacy industry stakeholders
• Comparative analysis of the price paid by stakeholders for PBS medicines
• Case studies from state/territory government health departments and public and private hospital pharmacies.

AHA’s final report details how PBS pharmaceuticals are used in public and private hospitals, and highlights key issues for consideration by the Department in the operation of the PBS and its sub-programs in hospitals across Australia.  The final report  is available to download from the Department’s  PBS website.