Pharmacists prefer PPA

A NEW survey conducted by the Pharmacy Programs Administrator (PPA) has found that almost 90% of those using the platform are “more satisfied than one year ago” when the programs were run by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

Australian Healthcare Associates (AHA) won the contract to administer the 23 Community Pharmacy Programs funded under the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement (PD 30 Oct 2018), taking over from the Pharmacy Guild from 01 Feb last year after a competitive tender process conducted by the Health Department.

The company subsequently established the new Pharmacy Programs Administrator operation including a new website and support centre to assist pharmacists to claim reimbursements under the 6CPA.

The newly released “Annual Satisfaction Survey” collates the responses from more than 500 users of the platform, with 94.3% either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with PPA’s administration of the programs.

Respondents cited payment speed as one of the key improvements, along with ease of use, communication and real-time validation of claims.

Things users thought the PPA could do better included reducing repeat data entry for claim forms, providing greater detail on remittance advices and increasing integrations with software vendors.

PPA flagged a number of enhancements including new reports to assist with tax returns, and improved pre-fill functionality.

AHA also currently administers the Community Service Obligation funding pool and the Chemotherapy Compounding Payment Scheme on behalf of the Health Department.

The full satisfaction survey is at ppaonline.com.au.