4a part 3

Mrs Harrison comes into the pharmacy and asks for a print-out of
all medications supplied to herself, her husband and her three
children (aged 6, 9 and 14) over the previous year, for the
purpose of claiming a PBS ‘safety net card’.

Once the family spends a certain amount on PBS medicines, the family will reach the PBS
Safety Net threshold. The criteria met for to be considered a family is the following:
 A couple married
 Dependent children: All the children meet the criteria of younger than 16 years old

The 2021 PBS Safety Net threshold is:

 $316.80 for concession card holders
 $1,497.20 for general patients.

Once the threshold is reached, the family will need to apply for a PBS Safety Net card to get
cheaper medicines. The medicine will then either:
 be free for concession card holders
 cost up to $6.60 for general patients.

Can this information be provided?

As the pharmacist you are unable to automatically provide details of a person’s medication
history to family members who might request this information.

Mrs Harrison’s dependent children are under her supervision and we are able to disclose
information on their medication.

However, prior to supplying the information we must confirm the relationship with the
children through a form of identification such as Medicare care with the family details.

What privacy issues need to be considered?

There are a range of privacy issues which must be considered before disclosing any
information for her husband.

All pharmacies must comply with the Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles to respect
customer privacy and confidentiality when requesting and providing information.

Information on a person’s health, medical condition and medication is sensitive and there are
obligations of the pharmacist for maintaining customer privacy which is stated in documents
on standards and conduct of pharmacist behaviour.

In this case, Mr Harrison may not want to disclose his health information to his wife. We
require consent from Mr Harrison to disclose information to his partner.

What information (if any) can be provided?

If we are unable to obtain consent from the husband such as written

permission or discussing the matter with the patient over the phone then
we are unable to provide a print-out of all medications for Mr Harrison.
However, in order for Mrs Harrison to claim for the PBS ‘safety net card’
we can provide her with the safety net stickers for her husband. These
safety net stickers contain the information of Date of supply, PBS/RPBS
code, Approval number and Safety Net value but no information on his
medications.

References:

- Services SA:
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/medicare/pharmaceutical-
benefits-scheme/when-you-spend-lot-pbs-medicines/pbs-safety-net-thresholds

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/medicare/pharmaceutical-
benefits-scheme/when-you-spend-lot-pbs-medicines/pbs-safety-net-thresholds/how-reach-
threshold-sooner-family

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/medicare/pharmaceutical-
benefits-scheme/when-you-spend-lot-pbs-medicines/keep-track-your-pbs-medicines

- PBS: https://www.pbs.gov.au/info/healthpro/explanatory-
notes/section1/Section_1_5_Explanatory_Notes

- Pharmacy Guild: https://www.pharmacyguild.edu.au/wp-

content/uploads/2014/05/SIRCDIS301_Learner-Gude.pdf

Hi Jack,
Thank you for the information about the PBS code being used to find out the medication for
Mr Harrison. In that case, I would make sure not to provide the safety net stickers.
What else could you do? Could you print separate Safety Net reports for each family
member and then put them in envelopes?
That is a good suggestion, placing the separate safety net reports in envelops could protect
the patient’s privacy while it is being delivered to the appropriate individual as long as Mrs
Harrison does not open them.
The separate individuals may have to come into the store and collect their own safety net
reports for each family member.