Patients of approved Aboriginal Health Services (AHS) in remote areas can get some Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines for free.
To order and claim PBS under the RAAHS Program you’ll need to complete the Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services request and claim form. The AHS and approved suppliers complete different columns. There’s a list of terms and definitions to help you complete the form.
You’ll need to choose an approved supplier to bulk supply PBS medicines.
Submit your request for eligible PBS medicines to the approved supplier using the Aboriginal Health Services pharmaceutical supplies request and claim form.
You must include all the following details:
- AHS registration number
- AHS name and address
- Outstation name and address, if applicable
- full name and signature of the authorised person requesting pharmaceutical supplies
- date of the request.
An authorised person is a health professional employed or contracted by the AHS and is qualified to supply all medicines covered by these arrangements.
Download and complete the Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services request and claim form.
Complete your sections of the form to confirm you supplied the order to the AHS and submit it to us for payment.
You must include all the following details in the claim:
- pharmacy approval number
- pharmacy name and address
- full item details and quantities of the pharmaceutical supplies you’ve issued to the AHS
- full name and signature of the authorised person supplying pharmaceutical items
- date the request was fulfilled.
You must include a unique alpha-numeric claim reference number that's no more than 8 digits on the form. For example, 12345AUG. We may return forms with claim reference numbers that include special characters, symbols, hyphens or spaces.
If you’re claiming for multiple AHS or approved outstations of the AHS, you need to provide a separate claim for each.
If you’re claiming for the same AHS or outstation of that AHS across multiple dates of supply, you must provide a separate claim for each date of supply.
For each PBS medicine supplied in bulk to an approved AHS under these arrangements, you’ll be paid the sum of all the following:
- approved price to the pharmacist
- an amount equal to the administration, handling and infrastructure fee
- handling fee of $3.40
- any patient specific medicine supply fee (PSMSF), if applicable.
The AHS and approved suppliers complete different columns of the form.
| Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
| AHS quantity required | Medicines must be ordered in multiples of the PBS maximum quantity. You can’t order broken packs. If you need to request smaller quantities, another PBS item code of the same medicine may be available to provide a single pack amount. |
| Item code | Identifies the PBS medicine using the PBS item code. |
| Item name, form and strength | This can be the active drug name, or a valid or current brand name. The description must match the item code and contain the correct name, form and strength. |
| Manufacturer’s code | Identifies the brand of PBS medicine using the manufacturer’s code. If claiming a specific brand, include the correct manufacturer code for that brand. This field can be left blank if a generic drug name is claimed. |
| Pharmacy quantity supplied | Confirms the quantity supplied to the AHS. If the quantity ordered is different from the quantity supplied, the variation is shown in this column. |
| PSMSF - Individually labelled RAAHS prescription items only | Identifies items supplied on a RAAHS prescription. The approved supplier has provided the PBS medicine labelled and prepared item for an individual patient back to the AHS. |
| Serial number | Identifies how many items are listed in the claim for payment to be lodged with us. |
The AHS and approved supplier can give us an adapted items requested and supplied section of the Aboriginal Health Services pharmaceutical supplies request and claim form if either:
- the number of items claimed exceeds the lines available
- you’ve created an adapted section that’s better suited for AHS and pharmacy systems.
We can only accept an adapted section of the form if you do all of the following:
- provide the items with a completed copy of the current Aboriginal Health Services request and claim form
- complete all declarations
- make sure the inserted claiming details columns match the form.
If your claim was paid, but you’ve submitted items that don’t meet the criteria for payment, we’ll reject these individual items.
This may occur if the item:
- has a description that’s incomplete or doesn’t match the PBS item code
- has an invalid or deleted manufacturer code or item code
- has invalid quantities that need clarification
- is otherwise invalid for claiming under the PBS.
The approved supplier can re-claim these items for payment, using the Resubmit rejected items for Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services claim form.