Harmonisation of Authority Required (Streamlined) listings across public and private hospital PBS items for the Section 100 - Highly Specialised Drugs program

Page last updated: 30 August 2019

In response to sector feedback and a recommendation by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC), private hospital listings for medicines under the Section 100 Highly Specialised Drugs (HSD) program will be amended to Authority Required (Streamlined) in the instances where the medicine is already listed as Authority Required (Streamlined) for public hospitals. This will mean that eligible practitioners in private hospitals will also be able to prescribe relevant HSDs using Authority Required (Streamlined) codes. This will provide consistency for prescribers regardless of the hospital setting.

Prescriber and patient eligibility criteria, as well as current dispensing arrangements will remain unchanged. There will also be no change to the HSD Program Community Access arrangements or HSDs where the intended authority level is Authority Required (Written) or Authority Required (Telephone).

Private hospital listings will have different item codes and Authority Required (Streamlined) codes from the public hospital listings for the same medicine. It is important that the correct combination of item and Authority Required (Streamlined) codes are used in each prescribing setting. More detailed information on prescribing Authority Required (Streamlined) medicines is available on the Services Australia website.

Implementation of the PBAC’s recommendation to streamline HSD prescribing arrangements will occur in line with standard listing processes and the changes will be progressively implemented from 1 September 2019. Please monitor the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits (Summary of Changes) published monthly on the PBS website for the dates of effective restriction level changes to the PBS.