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National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS)
Who we are…
NPS is a non-profit service organisation, independent of government and the pharmaceutical industry, established in mid-1998 with the goal of improving the health of Australians through quality prescribing of medicines.
NPS provide access to independent, balanced, critically appraised information on medicines to prescribers and consumers.
All NPS programs are developed after thorough consultation with prescribers and consumers, and will continue to be shaped by their needs. Resources are available to GPs, specialists, medical students, hospital doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health professionals and consumers.
NPS current membership comprises of peak organisations representing keystake holders in health professionals, consumer and research bodies, government, the health care and pharmaceutical industries.
Our services…
NPS Prescribing Practice Review
NPS produced Prescribing Practice Review (PPR) every two months and is mailed to all GPs and some specialists. Each issue of PPR focus on a specific topic and is designed to provide in-depth information to enhance quality prescribing. Every issue contains a covering letter and when relevant, includes data on the GP’s prescribing pattern. The prescribing data are not accessible by any other organisation or individuals and are not used for regulatory purposes. NPS surveys have confirmed that doctors value this personalised, comparative information. The data contained in the PPR are taken from the Medicare Pharmacy Claims Database. They include dispensed PBS prescriptions for concession cardholders and items above the co-payment for patients without a concession card. Those prescriptions for PBS items which cost less than the patient co-payment, are not available from pharmacy claims data. This is a recognised deficiency in the data and explains the disparity between some practice and the profile as provided for some drugs.
NPS News
The NPS News is distributed along with Australian Prescriber, and provides information on therapeutics complementary to that found in PPR.
NPS Clinical Audits and Case Studies
Clinical audits and case studies are provided free of charge to GPs and pharmacists, these can be completed individually or used in group activities and workshops. Both clinical audits and case studies for GPs are eligible for Practice Incentives Program (PIP) payments.
NPS case studies are included in the NPS News, distributed every two months to all GPs along with Australian Prescriber. Completed case studies are returned to NPS for analysis. An aggregate of responses and an expert commentary are then sent to the participants.
NPS Clinical audits have been approved by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and are eligible for Quality Assurance and Continuing Education points.
NPS Practice Visits
At Wheatbelt GP Network a part-time NPS Facilitator has been employed to visit GPs in their practices and discuss how current evidence on specific therapeutic topics translates into quality prescribing for their patients.
A practice visit by an NPS Facilitator, on a therapeutic topic, can qualify as one of the Quality Prescribing Initiative activities that are eligible for PIP payment.
Small Group Meetings and Interactive CME Seminars
The Network NPS Facilitator co-ordinates and facilitates single meetings or a series of meetings that can focus on:
- case history discussion;
- local guideline development;
- peer review to discuss prescribing feedback;
- practice visits/academic detailing in practice group; and
- medication review workshops.
Therapeutic Advice and Information Service
Therapeutic Advice and Information Service (TAIS) is a new telephone service for health professionals wanting independent drug and therapeutics information. TAIS is manned by trained drug information pharmacists every weekday between 9.00 am and 7.00 pm eastern standard time on free call 1300 138 677 to provide GPs, pharmacists and other community-based health practitioners with immediate access to drug information enquiries.
TAIS is provided through a consortium of 6 expert drug information organisations: Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre Drug Information Service (VIC) Hunter Drug Information Service (NSW) Queensland Drug Information Centre (QLD) Education and Information Unit, Mater Pharmacy Services, Mater Children's Hospital (QLD) Western Australian Drug Information Service (WA) Drug and Therapeutics Information Service (DATIS) (SA).
Medicine Line
The Medicines Line is a national information service, providing everyday Australians with access to independent, accurate and up-to-date information about medicines including prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, complementary medicines and herbal and natural therapies. TAIS is manned by drug information specialists and clinical pharmacists every weekday between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm eastern standard tome on free call 1300 888 763.
Medicine Line is provided through a consortium including the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and Mater Pharmacy Services.
Research
The NPS Research Grant Program encourages and fosters research in areas relevant to wise use of medicines, attempting to fill gaps in our knowledge and provide answers for specific problems.
For more information about any of the NPS programs, please contact NPS Facilitator on qum@wheatbelt.com.au or phone (08) 9621 1530. |