Indigenous Dose Administration Aids

Dose Administration Aids (DAAs) are provided with the aim of assisting people with the management and timing of their medicines. A DAA is a well-sealed, tamper-evident device that allows individual medicine doses to be organised according to the prescribed dose schedule.

A Dose Administration Aid (DAA) is defined as a well-sealed, tamper-evident device that allows individual medicine doses to be organised according to the dose schedule determined by the Patient’s prescriber. There are a number of Dose Administration Aid systems available on the Australian market.

The Indigenous Dose Administration Aids (IDAA) Program is designed to assist Patients in the community who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander to better manage their medicines, with the objective of avoiding medication misadventure and improving medication adherence.

Pharmacy

To be eligible to receive payments under the IDAA Program, a Community Pharmacy must:

•      Be approved to dispense pharmaceutical benefits as part of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) defined in Section 90 of the National Health Act 1953 (Section 90 Pharmacy); and

•      Be accredited by an approved Pharmacy Accreditation Program or be in the process of attaining Accreditation within six months of applying to participate in the IDAA Program. The Commonwealth may waive the requirement to hold or be seeking accreditation in order to ensure Patients can access the Program; and

•      Abide by the PPA Terms and Conditions available here; and

•      Provide IDAA Services in accordance with the current IDAA Program Rules, PSA Standards and the Pharmacy Board of Australia Guidelines; and

•      Ensure that the IDAA Service is carried out by a Registered Pharmacist; and

•      any interviews or consultations are undertaken with the Patient and/or Patient’s carer in a culturally sensitive manner with consideration of the Patient’s comfort and right to privacy; and

•      Register for the Program via the Pharmacy Programs Administrator (PPA) Portal; and

•      Aim to improve cultural competency by regularly participating in appropriate training and agree to regularly liaise with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and local communities to ensure the Services provided continue to meet the health needs of the patients; and

•      Ensure the Registered Pharmacist conducting any IDAA interview is not responsible for dispensing or undertaking other professional duties at the time any IDAA interviews or consultations are undertaken; and

•      Comply with legislative requirements in relation to the storage and access by staff to medicines that are packed in a DAA and that the area where the DAAs are packed is not accessible to the public.

Patient

To be eligible for an IDAA Service under the Program, a Patient must satisfy the following mandatory Eligibility Criteria:

•      Self-identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person; and

•      Holds a Medicare and/or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) card; OR

•      Is a person who is eligible for a Medicare card; and

•      Is a patient likely to benefit from a DAA as identified by a prescriber or by another healthcare provider; and

•      Is living at home in a community setting; and

•      Provides appropriate consent for provision of the IDAA Service prior to receiving the service; and

•      Has difficulties managing their medications due to literacy or language issues, physical disability or cognitive difficulties; OR

•      Is taking one or more prescription medicine(s) and is experiencing difficulties with medication management.

A person is not eligible for an IDAA Service funded under this Program if they are currently:

  • An In-Patient at a public hospital, private hospital, day hospital or transition care facility
  • A resident of an Aged Care Facility or a correctional facility; or
  • Already receiving funding from other government-funded DAA programs, such as the DVA DAA Program.

There is no weekly cap on Services provided under the IDAA Program. Services provided under the IDAA Program will also not contribute to the Service Provider’s DAA weekly cap under the DAA Program.

Expenditure on the IDAA Program will however be monitored and Services provided to a Patient may only be claimed under either the IDAA Program or the DAA Program depending on the Patient’s eligibility.

Claim Submission

An IDAA Service Provider may submit claims for providing IDAA Services that meet the Patient Eligibility Criteria and the following criteria:

a.     The Patient’s medicines in the DAA are dispensed and packed in the Pharmacy by the claiming IDAA Service Provider in accordance with the relevant quality standard; or

b.     The Patient’s medicines in the DAA are dispensed by the claiming IDAA Service Provider but are packed at another site (DAA packing warehouse, another Pharmacy, etc.) that meets the Pharmacy approval authority requirements in the relevant State or Territory as well as the relevant quality standard.

Claims must be submitted online via the PPA Portal.

IDAA Services must be claimed by the end of the next calendar month after the Service being provided, e.g. DAA Services undertaken in March must be claimed by 30 April. Claims that are outside this timeframe cannot be submitted and will not be paid.
All information entered in the Claim must be correct as any inconsistencies may prevent claim submission.

For the purposes of claiming, a single IDAA Service is defined as the provision of any number of packs required by that Patient to adequately assist with their medication for that week. A single claim is made regardless of the number of packs required. For clarity:

– If a Patient receives a part-pack for the week after initiating a DAA or having been discharged from a hospital or facility, this is equivalent to one Service
– If a Pharmacy supplies a DAA which is then subsequently altered or changed midweek, this is still only equivalent to one Service
– If a Patient requires multiple DAAs each week due to the volume of medicines, compatibility of medicines, the number of dosing times per day, or other factors, this is equivalent to one Service.

The following information must be provided to the PPA in order to claim a payment under this Program for the provision of a weekly IDAA Service:

a.     Patient’s Medicare/DVA Card Number

b.     Date/s of provision of the DAA/s

c.     A declaration by the claiming IDAA Service Provider that the Patient has consented to receive the Service in writing OR verbally and that evidence of consent is retained for monitoring and compliance purposes

d.    A declaration by the claiming IDAA Service Provider that the Patient satisfies the Eligibility Criteria in the Program Rules and that all other applicable Program Rules and criteria have been met.

IDAA Service Providers must gain consent from Patients to collect data in accordance with the IDAA Program Rules.

Payments

Payments will be made in accordance with the table below:

Payment (per Patient) Description
$11.60 Provision of weekly IDAA Service (including regular follow up with Patient) for all eligible Patients who receive an IDAA Service

These fees are payable by the PPA for provision of an IDAA Service. IDAA Service Providers may NOT apply an additional Patient charge for a Service delivered under the IDAA Program.

Record Keeping and Auditing

Participating Pharmacies must keep all relevant records and supporting documentation for seven years, including IDAA Service records, claim records and Patient information. The records may be electronic or hard copy. The PPA is responsible for auditing the IDAA Program. If an audit is conducted, the IDAA Service Provider will be required to produce supporting documentation including information on how the Patient met eligibility criteria at the time of service. Service Providers found to be in breach of the IDAA Program Rules may be subject to penalties.

Indigenous Dose Administration Aids FAQs

  1. Please see the Program Rules available from the Downloads section of this page.

    The IDAA Program is its own standalone program in the PPA Portal. You will therefore need to register for the Program and claim for IDAA Services separately to DAA Services.

  2. In some instances, yes. Please refer to the Program Rules available from the Downloads section of this page, or contact the Support Centre for additional information.

  3. Claims for IDAA Services must be submitted under the specific IDAA Program in the PPA Portal.

    Please ensure you do not submit IDAA Services under the DAA Program and vice versa. IDAA Services accidently submitted under the DAA Program will automatically count towards your DAA weekly cap.  

    For more information on registration and claiming please refer to the Portal User Guide – IDAA that is available from the Downloads section of this page.

  4. No, but you can cut and paste from an Excel spreadsheet into the Portal.  You can cut and paste all records at once, you don’t need to do it line by line. Please see the Portal User Guide – IDAA 

  5. The format of the spreadsheet must be correct for the cut and paste to work.  Please check that:

    • Your spreadsheet has two columns, the first for Medicare/DVA number and the second for date
    • Medicare numbers are 11 numbers long, with no dashes or slashes between numbers.  If you do need to remove other characters, you don’t have to delete them one by one.  You can use the ‘Find and Replace’ feature in Excel, and replace the characters with nothing. For instructions from Microsoft on how to use this feature, click here
    • The date format must be DD/MM/YYYY, i.e. 01/02/2019 is 1 February 2019.  If your date is not in this format, please change the date column to ‘Short Date’ format
    • Your spreadsheet does not have blank rows between records.  You don’t need to delete these rows individually, just sort your spreadsheet by either the Medicare/DVA number or Date columns and these blanks will be moved to the bottom and you should be able to copy and paste all the relevant records.

  6. If you get this message for all rows, it means you have already successfully submitted your claim.  You can check this by navigating to the View Claims tab after you’ve selected the IDAA Program, then selecting Service Claim from the Claim Type drop-down on the left side of the screen.  This will show you all of your previous claims.  If you click on the View Claims icon on the right of the screen for each claim, it will show you all the patients you claimed for on that date.

    If only some of your rows are showing this message, it means there is already a DAA/IDAA pack for that patient in that week in another claim you have previously submitted. You will therefore need to delete these particular rows in the claim you are trying to submit, by clicking the ‘x’ button on the left-hand side of the Medicare number on each row showing the error.   

  7. There is no weekly cap on Services provided under the IDAA Program. Services provided and claimed under the IDAA Program will also not contribute to the Pharmacy’s weekly DAA cap under the DAA Program. Please note, a Service for a patient must only be claimed under either the IDAA or DAA Program depending on the patient’s eligibility, it cannot be claimed under both Programs.  

    Claiming under these Programs will be monitored as part of the PPA’s monitoring and compliance activities undertaken on behalf of the Department of Health and Aged Care.

  8. Each weekly provision of an IDAA Service for eligible Patients is paid $11.60.  For further information about what constitutes an eligible Service, please refer to the Program Rules, available from the Downloads section of this page.

  9. Claims are due by the end of the calendar month after the IDAA Service was performed. For example, IDAAs provided in March would be required to be submitted on the Pharmacy Programs Administrator Portal by the end of April.

    You may wish to submit all Services for the month within one larger claim or choose to submit smaller claims at the end of each week that just contain the Service provided in that week. Either way is acceptable as long as they are submitted within the claiming timeframe.

  10. No. Pharmacies may NOT apply an additional patient charge for any Services delivered under the funded IDAA Program.

    If the patient does not meet the eligibility criteria for a Service under either the DAA or IDAA Programs then the pharmacy may choose to offer a Service at the patient’s own cost.

  11. Yes, however the IDAA must be claimed by the pharmacy that dispenses the medicines for the IDAA pack and provides the IDAA to the patient. Please refer to the Program Rules, available from the Downloads section of this page, for additional information.

  12. You cannot copy patient data from a PPA Portal claim form directly into a new claim form. If however, you are currently using an Excel file to manage your IDAA claim then yes, you will be able to copy the Medicare/DVA numbers used from previous claims into a new claim. Please ensure you update the dates in the Date of Service column to reflect the new Dates of Service.  For instructions on copying and pasting claims data from an Excel file into the PPA Portal claim form please see the Portal User Guide – IDAA that is available from the Downloads section of this page.

  13. No, they are not eligible.

  14. The start date of the pack.

  15. Yes, it is expected that the supply pharmacy of PBS medicines via the RAAHS program is the supplying pharmacy of the IDAA. However, only s90 pharmacies can participate in the IDAA Program.

    Please note that under the RAAHS Program, PBS medicines must be supplied to patients by the RAAHS, and cannot be supplied directly to patients from a community pharmacy. RAAHS clients seeking to obtain PBS medicines from a community pharmacy must do so under usual PBS arrangements, i.e. with a PBS prescription.

  16. No, additional transport costs are not available if the PBS items supplied via the RAAHS program are packaged into an IDAA.

  17. No, the PBS medicines are to be sent to the RAAHS; this includes if they are packaged in an IDAA. The patient is not able to pick up their IDAA directly from the pharmacy if the PBS medicines are being supplied via the RAAHS program.

  18. No, the IDAA Program is exclusively for patients who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders.

  19. No, a service cannot be delivered without discussing this with the patient’s prescriber. An IDAA Service should be clinically indicated for non-intentional non-adherence.  If you believe a patient would benefit from an IDAA Service, this should be discussed with the patient and their prescriber or other healthcare provider.

    A Service under the IDAA Program should not be recommended for patient convenience or where the patient does not meet the intent of the Program.

  20. No. IDAA Services funded under the IDAA Program are not available to patients receiving DAAs funded under other federal or State and Territory Government programs

  21. A community setting may include the patient’s private residence, an independent living unit within a retirement village, support accommodation or supported living.

    In-patients of public or private hospitals, day hospital facilities, transitional care facilities, or residents of an Aged Care Facility or Patients in a correctional facility are not classified as community settings.

  22. It is anticipated that the training component will be the foundation for cultural competency with an understanding that the Service Providers will engage regularly with their local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Organisations/communities. 

    It is recommended that training be undertaken by an approved training facilitator for example and not limited to, Indigenous Allied Health Australia’s – Cultural Responsiveness Training or Pharmaceutical Society of Australia – Guide to providing pharmacy services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

  23. No. To be eligible for an IDAA Service under the Program, a Patient must satisfy the Eligibility Criteria as outlined in the Program Rules. This includes self-identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Indigenous Dose Administration Aids Consent FAQs

  1. Yes, informed patient consent must be obtained, either in writing or verbally, from the patient or the patient’s authorised representative prior to providing the service using the Consent form. A declaration by the claiming Approved Service Provider (pharmacy) is required at the time a claim for payment is submitted to PPA.

  2. Consent only needs to be obtained once, when a patient commences receiving services under the IDAA Program.  However, if a patient moves to another pharmacy, or there has been a full change of the ownership of the pharmacy, consent will need to be sought again.

  3. No, each pharmacy is a separate entity.  A new consent form needs to be completed if the DAA will be provided by a new pharmacy.

  4. The patient does not need to consent to receive a DAA. However, the pharmacy has to share some of the patient’s personal information before it can receive a Government payment for the DAA. The consent form is used to record that a patient has been advised what personal information is being collected, how it will be used and that they have consented to this use.  This form satisfies the legislative requirements under the Privacy Act 1988.

  5. If the patient does not provide consent for their personal information to be collected, they will not be eligible to receive a free DAA under the IDAA Program. This will mean the patient or health service will need to continue paying the pharmacy if that was the arrangement prior to the IDAA program being implemented.

  6. Yes, the IDAA program is a new and separate program and requires a consent form to be completed for each patient.

  7. Participating Pharmacies must keep all relevant records and supporting documentation for seven years, including IDAA Service records, claim records and Patient information. The records may be electronic or hard copy.

    The PPA is responsible for auditing the IDAA Program. If an audit is conducted, the Service Provider will be required to produce supporting documentation including information on how the Patient met eligibility criteria at the time of the service. Service Providers found to be in breach of the IDAA Program Rules may be subject to penalties.

  8. To be eligible for an IDAA a patient must hold a Medicare card or be eligible for one.  Pharmacies are able to use special Medicare numbers when patients are believed to be entitled.

  9. The patient’s personal information will be used to enable the pharmacy to claim a payment for the DAA service.  This information may also be used if a pharmacy is selected by the Pharmacy Programs Administrator for a compliance action to ensure that pharmacy is handling private information properly and delivering services correctly.

  10. Pharmacies will collect the patient’s personal information, either directly from the patient or the patient’s authorised representative, for the purposes of claiming a DAA service under the IDAA Program.

    In order to provide any DAA or medication service, the pharmacy will collect some or all of the following types of personal information about the patient:

    • Name

    • Address

    • Medicare/DVA number

    • Date of birth

    • Details about the medicines being taken

    • Details about the patient’s authorised representative

    This process of the pharmacy having access to a patient’s Medicare/DVA number, date of birth, and medicines information is current practice to allow for the patient’s medicines to be supplied.  The pharmacy is not collecting any new information about the patient.

    The pharmacist may use this personal information to contact the patient regarding their medications.

     

  11. The patient’s information is protected by law, under the Australian Privacy Principle 5 Notification under the Privacy Act 1988.

    The Department has an Australian Privacy Principles (APP) privacy policy which pharmacies and patients can read at https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/privacy-policy. A copy of the APP privacy policy can be obtained by contacting the Department using the contact details below. The APP privacy policy contains information about:

    • How patients may access the personal information the Department holds about them and how they can seek correction of it; and

    • How patients may complain about a breach of

        o the APPs; or

        o a registered APP code that binds the Department; and

    • How the Department will deal with such a complaint.

    Pharmacies and patients can contact the Department by telephone on (02) 6289 1555, free call 1800 020 103 or by using the online enquiries form located here.

  12. No, patient’s data will only be used to allow the Pharmacy Programs Administrator to undertake compliance activities on pharmacies (if required).

  13. No, you only need to obtain consent from each patient once.

  14. Consent can be obtained by a health professional such as a General Practitioner, Pharmacist or a staff member from the Aboriginal Health Service, clinic or health centre.

  15. No, the IDAA Patient Information and Consent form must be used. A separate consent form is required for each patient, for each program.

  16. Yes, the Aboriginal Health Service can give the patient’s details to the pharmacy. However, this does not take the place of the patient consenting to being part of the program. 

  17. No, the PPA is a third party.

  18. If it is not possible or practical to obtain written consent, the pharmacist or a staff member from the Aboriginal Health Service, clinic or health centre may obtain verbal consent from the patient or their authorised representative.

  19. Consent can be obtained on your behalf by either the prescriber or a staff member at the Aboriginal Health Service using the Information and Consent Form.  You must obtain a copy of the form prior to providing the service to ensure you are meeting the supporting documentation requirements under Clause 8.2 (d) of the Program Rules.

     

Indigenous Dose Administration Aid Program Resources


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