PBS/RPBS Prescriptions: Quick Guide

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) help eligible patients access subsidised medications, reducing out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy. When prescribing within MediRecords, PBS and RPBS medicines are clearly identified and supported throughout the prescribing workflow to make compliant prescribing simple and efficient.

This article explains how to prescribe PBS and RPBS medications, how to filter the medication list to show subsidised items only, and how prescription types are automatically set based on the patient’s eligibility. Understanding these behaviours helps ensure patients receive the correct subsidy and avoids unnecessary authority requests or private prescriptions.

Contents

1. Prescribing a PBS or RPBS Medication
2. Filtering by PBS or RPBS Medications Only
3. Prescription Types & Subsidised Costs
4. Related Reading

Prescribing a PBS or RPBS Medication

When selecting a PBS medication in the list, the Quantity, Repeats, and Restriction value are all prefilled from information directly from the PBS:



You are able to change the Quantity and Repeats on the second page of the prescribing window to be higher or lower. If you increase the Quantity or Repeats, you may be prompted to apply for authority for the prescription before you will be able to provide it to the patient. If you select No, the repeats and quantity will revert to the PBS/RPBS provided value. If you click Yes, the prescription will convert to authority.


If you need some assistance with the steps required for creating an authority prescription, please see Authority & Authority Streamlined Prescriptions & State-Based Authorised Reference Numbers.

Filtering by PBS or RPBS Medications Only

Prescription Types & Subsidised Costs

If the patient has a Medicare card and/or DVA card entered, and the provider has selected a PBS/RPBS drug from the list, then the patient will receive a subsidised cost on their prescription at the pharmacy automatically. By default, if the patient holds a Medicare card, the prescription type will be set to PBS to match the medication selected. Similarly, if an RPBS medication is selected and the patient holds a DVA card, the prescription type will automatically be set to RPBS.

If the patient does not hold a Medicare or DVA card, or the medication selected is not part of the PBS/RPBS, then the prescription type will default to Private, and the patient will pay full price for the prescription:

Related Reading

• Authority & Streamlined Prescriptions, & State-Based Authorised Reference Numbers
• Prescribing Schedule 8 (S8) Monitored Medications
• Real-Time Prescription Monitoring (RTPM): Configuration & Quick Guide
• Prescribing: Provider Preferences