Hello everybody! I am just new in Ireland and I'm trying to figure out the payments done to the pharmacy in order to improve the claiming in my pharmacy.
My question is regarding the "extemporaneous fee". Acording to the last change I saw in the Irish Law (http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2013/si/279/made/en/pdf) there is a "Fee per drug item for extemporaneous preparation of oral medication" of 6.53€, with GMS code 99159. Is this fee claimable INSTEAD of the regular "fee-per-item" of 5€/4.5€/3.5€ or I should claim the fee with the regular one?
And another question: for example, if a prescription comes with Augmentin Duo suspension, it is accountable as "extemporaneous preparation of oral medication"?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Hi Harry P. and welcome to the forum/website.
Keeping in mind I haven't dispensed an extemp in a while, but I think the extemp fees are INSTEAD OF, not in addition to the regular dispensing fee. However you can let your computer figure that out.
Here's what I mean. When you're entering an extemp on the system you will need to set it up and give it a cost price (add up cost of all your ingredients), VAT rate and a GMS code. By this logic your claim will consist of cost price plus the relevant fee which will be triggered by the GMS code used plus any applicable VAT. It may also add a regular dispensing fee, now that I think of it this way.
There's some more info in this HSE circular (including the new codes to be used) and on page 14 of the PCRS handbook for pharmacists.
In relation to your second question, PCRS in their handbook explicitly state that this type of "extemporaneous" preparations are not reimbursable as they already have their own GMS code, therefore that is the code to be used.
Now I see it, makes sense...
Thanks for the help, everything is a little overwhelming so I am trying my best!
You're very welcome. It is a complicated system alright and particulary tricky because the extemps are so rare, that it's easy to forget how to process them.
BREAKING NEWS: After 14 years, the HSE just dropped an updated handbook on us: PCERS - Handbook for Pharmacists 2020 (PDF)