Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services (RAAHS or AHS) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

How to order supplies of PBS medicines

An approved AHS must choose approved suppliers to provide PBS medicines. Approved suppliers are community or hospital pharmacies authorised under section 90 or section 94 of the National Health Act 1953 to supply PBS medicines.

Requests for eligible PBS medicines must be submitted to the approved supplier on an Aboriginal Health Services (AHS) pharmaceutical supplies request and claim form. Approved suppliers also use this form for claiming.

Electronic order form

If you’re an approved AHS, you can develop your own electronic order form and will need to request approval of your electronic order form by emailing us.

The form must:

display a header that includes the AHS registration number, the name of the AHS and address
display a footer that includes the approved supplier’s pharmacy approval number, claim reference number and page number
include all the columns in the requested items section of the Aboriginal Health Services (AHS) pharmaceutical supplies request and claim form

If you have a previously approved electronic order form, it must be updated for the s100 RAAHS Patient Specific Medicine Supply Fee (PSMSF) to be claimed. To request approval of your updated electronic order form email us.

When you submit your electronic order form for claiming, make sure you:

use the Aboriginal Health Services (AHS) pharmaceutical supplies request and claim form as a cover sheet
write across the requested items section ‘please see attached order lists’, and complete all details and declarations in the form

Medicines not available under Aboriginal Health Service arrangements

All medicines contained in section 2 of the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits are available under these arrangements, except:

extemporaneously prepared items
highly specialised drugs
emergency drug (prescriber bag) supplies
Repatriation PBS medicines
Schedule 8 medicines as defined by the drugs and poisons legislation in the relevant state or territory

Schedule 8 or extemporaneously prepared medicine must be prescribed on an approved prescription form and dispensed under standard PBS arrangements.

For a detailed listing of PBS medicines, go to the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits on the Department of Health and Aged Care website.

Completing an order form

You must include the following details on the Aboriginal Health Services (AHS) pharmaceutical supplies request and claim form:

AHS registration number
AHS community name and address
name and signature of the authorised person requesting pharmaceutical supplies. An authorised person is a health professional who’s employed or contracted by the AHS and is qualified to supply all medicines covered by these arrangements

AHS and approved suppliers complete different columns in section 4 of the form.

Section 4 - Items requested columns	To be completed by
Serial number Identifies how many items are listed in the claim for payment to be lodged with us.	approved supplier
Code Identifies the PBS medicine using the item code from the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits.	AHS or approved supplier
Manufacturer’s code Identifies the brand of PBS medicine using the manufacturer’s code from the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits. If a generic brand is suitable, the manufacturer’s code can be left blank.	AHS or approved supplier
Descriptions of goods: item, form and strength Describes the PBS medicine. The approved supplier can use this information to confirm that the item code matches the description. The description must contain enough detail to identify the item. For example: Item name Form Strength Amoxycillin Capsule 500 mg	AHS
Quantity required To order the quantity required. Under the arrangements, medicines are ordered in multiples of the PBS maximum quantity, as set out in the Schedule. For example, if the medicine has a PBS maximum quantity of 30 capsules and the approved AHS needs 90 capsules total, the quantity required for supply is 3. Broken packs can’t be ordered.	AHS
Quantity supplied To confirm the quantity supplied to the AHS. If the quantity ordered is different from the quantity supplied, the variation is shown in this column.	approved supplier
Subset quantity supplied for an individual (if applicable) To confirm the quantity of PBS medicine labelled and prepared for an individual patient.	approved supplier
Total number of items supplied for an individual for this claim This is the total of the subset quantity supplied for an individual column.	approved supplier

Approved supplier’s claims for payment

The approved supplier must claim reimbursement from us by submitting a completed Aboriginal Health Services (AHS) pharmaceutical supplies request and claim form.

You need to separate claim packages by community name. Where there are multiple supply dates for a single community, claims need to be separated by date order and claim reference number.

For each PBS medicine supplied in bulk to an approved AHS under these arrangements, you’ll be paid the sum of:

the approved price to pharmacist
an amount equal to the administration, handling and infrastructure fee
a handling fee of $3.20.

Incomplete claims, incorrect claims or electronic order forms that haven’t been approved by us will be returned. This may delay your claim or payment.

RAAHS patient specific medicine supply fee (PSMSF)

From 1 January 2018 we’ll pay eligible pharmacies the s100 RAAHS PSMSF. This fee is for each PBS medicine ordered on a RAAHS prescription and labelled for an individual patient for supply through an approved AHS. This is in addition to the handling fee paid to eligible pharmacies for the supply of bulk PBS medicines to an approved AHS.

The s100 RAAHS PSMSF is $5.04 for each PBS medicine labelled for an individual patient for supply through an approved AHS, on or after 1 July 2022.

Claims for payment of the s100 RAAHS PSMSF for pharmaceutical benefits provided before 1 January 2018 must be sent to the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

Payments to approved suppliers

Approved AHS claims are paid by electronic funds transfer.

To register or update your bank account details for AHS payments, complete the Notification of Bank Account Details for Aboriginal Health Services program payments form.

More information

For more information about eligibility criteria and approval of AHS, contact the Department of Health and Aged Care.

For more information about claiming and the supply of PBS medicines, contact us.

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