Handle emergencies and complaints on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Authority line 012-60130040

Situation

Then request

The projected service level is reduced due to the high volume of calls and the low number of available staff.

Example: a site goes down.

Emergency message to be activated.

See:

• Emergency message wording above, and
• Staff approved to request emergency message table

The entire site is expected to experience an emergency evacuation and is the only site rostered to receive calls.

Example: fire drills.

Emergency message to be activated.

(During business hours, after hours Telstra will contact the Director Medicare Providers Branch who is on call).

See:

• Emergency message wording above, and
• Staff approved to request emergency message table

All agents have been forced to log out of the PBS Authorities National Queue.

Emergency message to be activated.

BAU Telephony will ring Telstra to activate message and/or after hours, Telstra will contact the Director Medicare Providers Branch who is on call.

See emergency message wording above.

Who

Emergency provision information

Prescribers

Prescribers who contact the Authorities prescription telephone line 1800 888 333 and hear the 'Emergency message', as stated below, must adhere to the instructions to prescribe an Authority required item.

Emergency Message:

'To prescribe increased quantities and/or repeats, please use the Online PBS Authorities System when it's available or call back later. For this prescription only, you may prescribe up to the maximum quantity and/or repeats for the item as listed in the current Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) schedule at pbs.gov.au. Do this by endorsing the prescription with the words 'Emergency authorised by Services Australia' and the date and time of your call. For Highly Specialised Drug Authority required items please also endorse the prescription with the letters 'HSD', and the hospital provider number.'

Key Points

• Increased quantities and/or repeats above the listed PBS Schedule quantity and/or repeats cannot be written under the Emergency Provision arrangements. You will need to use the Online PBS Authorities System when it's available or phone back later
• For Authority Required items written for up to the listed quantities and repeats, you need to endorse the Authority prescription with the following details:
• 'Emergency authorised by Services Australia'
• The date and time of the call
• In addition, for Highly Specialised Drug Authority required items, you will also need to endorse the prescription and include:
• 'HSD'
• the Hospital provider number (not required for Community Access HSD)

Pharmacists

When you receive an Authority prescription written under the Emergency Provision arrangements, you need to make sure that:

• the quantity and repeats do not exceed the listed quantity and repeats in the PBS Schedule
• the prescription is endorsed with:
• 'Emergency authorised by Services Australia'
• the date and time of the call are recorded on the prescription

In addition, for Highly Specialised Drug (HSD) Authority required items, the prescription must also be endorsed with:

• 'HSD'
• the hospital provider number (not required for Community Access HSD)

When dispensing a prescription which meets all of the requirements as listed above you will need to enter the emergency provision authority approval number, P9999RX.

Who

Stakeholder

Responsibility

Director PBS

Internal

To communicate with stakeholders about the activation of the emergency message.

Can request a congestion message based on their assessment of impact to their service and delegate this task to their nominated representative.

Note: a congestion message is only used in the script for calls that are routed from the ACD Overflow number. The standard congestion message is played.

Services Australia Operations Centre (SAOC) - Incident Management

To keep the internal stakeholders updated with technical information relating to message activation and removal.

Director PBS

Internal

To determine and contact pharmacy related external stakeholders (for example Pharmacy Guild of Australia).

Manager, Government and Media Relations Services Australia

Internal

To determine and contact relevant external stakeholders.

Stakeholder Relations Manager Australian Medical Association (AMA)

External

To determine and contact prescriber related external stakeholders (for example AMA, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

Situation where the provider….

Action

Wants the complaint recorded but does not want to speak to a supervisor.

• Record as much detail as possible
• Email the details to the Team Leader or Manager who should record the details of the complaint in the Customer Feedback Tool

Insists on speaking to a supervisor.

Escalate the call to the Team Leader or Manager who should record the details of the complaint in the Customer Feedback Tool.