National Prescribing Service
The NPS (formerly known as the National Prescribing Service) is a non-profit Australian organisation, independent from the government and pharmaceutical industry. The NPS provides accurate, balanced and evidence-based information and services to GP's, other medical specialists and health professionals, industry and consumers to improve the health of all Australians. Established in 1998 to support Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) i.e. the safe, judicious, appropriate and efficacious use of medicines, NPS has now extended its role to support quality use of diagnostic imaging and pathology testing.
Services offered to GP's, Pharmacists and other Health Professionals:
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Educational Visiting Program
North and West Qld Primary Health Care (NWQPHC) contracts two pharmacists, Kristen Anderson and Howard Punchard, as the NPS facilitators for the division. They are available to provide face-to-face practice visits twice yearly on different therapeutic topics. The visits provide the opportunity for in-depth discussion on the current evidence base and how this translates into quality outcomes for patients. Appointments can be made for a thirty minute one-to-one visit or a one hour small group case study discussion for three or more GP's. Invitations to participate are both featured in the NWQPHC Health Pro Weekly and forwarded to practices at the start of each visiting cycle (typically January/February and July/August). Case study discussions for other health professionals are also offered for each visiting topic. Wherever possible these are held during face-to-face clinical meetings, but can also take the form of remote access teleconferences.
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Clinical Audits, Case Studies and Practice Reviews
GP's, pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals can participate in free educational and quality improvement activities - including case studies, clinical audits and pharmacy practice reviews - on various therapeutic topics. All NPS educational and quality improvement activities qualify for continuing professional development (CPD) points or as an activity for the quality Prescribing Initiative (QPI) of the Practice Incentives program (PIP). To review the range of current activities that are available, click here. For more information regarding the QPI PIP program, please contact Medicare Australia PIP Enquiry Line on 1800 222 032 or visit Medicare Australia PIP.
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Publications
The NPS provides a range of high quality publications and resources for both health care professionals and consumers. Below is a summary of some of the publications available. For further information, please visit the NPS Website. To subscribe to these free publications, click here.
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Australian Prescriber and NPS News, distributed 6 times a year to more than 55,000 health professionals and students.
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Prescribing Practice Review provides feedback of prescribing data to all Australian GP's along with practical independent information for GP's and other medical specialists, 4 times a year. Please not that prescribing data is not shared with NPS at any stage. Medicare Australia populate an NPS template with each clinician's personal prescribing data and this informaton is then forwarded confidentially.
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NPS Radar, provides timely and independent information to prescribers and consumers on new and revised listings to the pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule.
A browsable list of drugs and therapeutic topics, offering a wide range of therapeutic areas is available here. The NPS also prepares patient information leaflets about medicine related issues that can be used by doctors during a consultation with a patient. To access these, click here.
Services for Consumers
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National Phone Service - MedicinesLine 1300 MEDICINE (1300 633 424)
Medicines line provides confidential information on medicines for consumers for the cost of a local call (mobiles may cost more). Hours of operation are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm EST (excluding NSW public holidays). For more information, click here.
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Publications, Information and Other Services
NPS offers many ways to assist consumers in making better decisions about medicines and medical tests that may be required. For a full list of publications, information leaflets and services, click here.
Updated August 2011