Is your pharmacy using MedsASSIST?
With the TGA yet to make its final decision on codeine – which its website says will be made after this month – some codeine-containing preparations are still available over the counter.
But customers now have one more hurdle to jump over to access them, with the introduction of MedsASSIST.
Or do they? The Pharmacy Guild rolled out the MedsASSIST program, a clinical decision support tool, from March 2016.
Many pharmacies have taken up the program, recording sales of OTC codeine combination products and in some cases giving patients the support they need to address their misuse of the drug.
2 patients now in "proper" care; detected via Medsassist and supported into appropriate management @CapitalChemUC https://t.co/1EMQqKGHNC
— Capital Chemist UC (@CapitalChemUC) May 26, 2016
But posters to the AJP’s forum said there’s anecdotal evidence to show that some pharmacies are discouraging use of the program.
Is your pharmacy using MedsASSIST?