60-Day Prescriptions
12 September 2023
From Friday, 1 September 2023, eligible patients now have the option to receive 60-day supply of medication for the cost of a single prescription for nearly 100 common medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
What is 60-day prescriptions?
Stage one of the 60-day prescriptions has commenced, allowing prescribers to have the option of prescribing their patients with 60-day supply for certain medications on the PBS.
The list of PBS medicines eligible for 60-day dispensing, as recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC), can be found on the Department of Health and Aged Care's website. Additional listing of medicines in stages two and three over the next 12 months will be released. By September 2024, up to 300 medicines will be available for 60-day supply.
Who is eligible?
Patients that are stable on their current medication(s) and living with ongoing health condition/s are eligible for 60-day prescriptions. Prescribers will need to exercise their clinical judgment to determine if patient is suitable to receive a 60-day supply of their medication/s, while still having the choice of supplying their patients with 30 day prescriptions.
What do prescribers need to do to prescribe a 60-day supply script?
After discussing with the patient, the prescriber will need to create a new prescription for a 60-day quantity of medicine. Practices need to ensure they have the latest drug/data update from their software provider to access the eligible medicines’ PBS item codes:
For more information about 60-day prescriptions, visit the Department of Health and Aged Care
website.
