A message from Dr Jo Scott-Jones, Pinnacle medical director.
Some practices have noticed a small change to the claim form when providing a subsidised iron infusion in practice and have asked "why another tick box?". The claiming team has added an additional request for assurance that the iron infusion is being given in accordance with the requirements of the special authority.
This has become necessary because some practices have been claiming the fee for administering the infusion, when the patient has not been eligible for funded iron infusion according to the special authority and have purchased the drug privately.
The contracts Pinnacle hold do not allow us to subsidise non-approved use of iron for infusion.
The special authority system is often in place to limit access to funded medication and to keep a cap on utilisation for cost purposes, but it does also serve as a "safety net" nudging us to be cautious when providing toxic medication to people.
Iron infusions are not without complications, and if you are providing them outside of the prescription restrictions, you need to be very clear with your patient that this is an unapproved use. If there are side effects (hypersensitivity, hypophosphataemia, heamosiderosis, and rarely "allergic angina") and the medication has been given outside of guidelines, it will be really important that the recipient has been properly consented.
Chemist Warehouse list the price as $426.99 for 500mg of Ferinject, which is likely a 50 per cent or more mark up on what it costs the government, so people purchasing the drug may be able to cover the additional cost of administration themselves.
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