6CPA program administration

The administration of the 6CPA programs will be shifting from the Guild to a new provider — Australian Healthcare Associates — commencing 1 February 2019.

The administration of the programs entails claims and payments for 23 programs including Dose Administration Aids, Staged Supply, Home Medicines Reviews, RMMRs, MedsChecks, Diabetes MedsChecks, rural support programs, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander support programs.

The Guild has been administering the bulk of these programs since 2014. As part of the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement, the administration of the programs was put to an open competitive tender earlier this year, with the result becoming publicly known today.

The successful bidder is Australian Healthcare Associates (AHA).

Under the terms of the tender, it was made clear that there could be no conflict of interest (either potential, perceived or actual) concerning the programs contractor or any of its related entities with respect to administering the programs. Accordingly, a bid for the tender was submitted through a newly-created company which would have operated independently of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. This bid was not successful.

AHA has announced it will engage the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) to advise on and support the administration of these programs.

The Guild is proud of the work we have done serving the sector in administering the programs in full since 2014, at the request of the Government. We thank all of the Guild staff who have worked and continue to work tirelessly in administering the programs.

We are committed to doing everything we can to help facilitate a smooth transition to AHA.