EPS will necessarily increase original pack dispensing
Original pack prescribing and dispensing in England will be encouraged by the electronic prescription service (EPS), the NHS Business Services Authority, which is responsible for pricing NHS prescriptions, has said.
This is because it will only be possible to prescribe items from the
pack-based dm+d dictionary of medicines and devices developed by the
NHSBSA Prescription Pricing Division and Connecting for Health.
From 1 April 2008, pharmaceutical companies will be required to provide
information about their products and prices in electronic form so that
the dictionary can be updated weekly. This, the NHSBSA says, means that
new products will be available to be prescribed more quickly than at
present.
Brian Alexander, NHSBSA PPD managing director, said: “It is a requirement
for each company to supply timely and accurate price information to ensure
dispensing contractors receive the appropriate reimbursement for the
supply of products on NHS prescription forms and prescribers are charged
the appropriate costs.”
A spokeswoman confirmed that weekly updating of price information would
have no impact on the Department of Health’s Drug Tariff-based
reimbursement policy.
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