Changes to the Ontario Drug System
April 21 , 2006
The Ministry of Health and Long-term Care recently introduced proposed policy and legislative directions relating to the provincial drug system. The following are areas of interest to physicians:
For several years, the OMA and our members have expressed concerns about the burden of paperwork placed upon physicians through the Individual Clinical Review (also known as "Section 8") and the Limited Use programs. The government has announced that these programs will be eliminated.
Section 8 is to be replaced by a new program called "Conditional Listing," coupled with an "Exceptional Access Mechanism." LU drugs are to be reviewed with the aim of moving them to either the conditional listing category or general benefits.
It is not clear yet what the conditional listing program will look like, but the government claims that the result will be "dramatically less paperwork for physicians."
The exceptional access mechanism will fulfil the original mandate of Section 8 - that is, to provide a means to access unlisted drugs in special circumstances.
Although the elimination of Section 8 and LU is most welcome news, we have work ahead of us to ensure that the replacement program is not merely a name change.
The OMA will monitor the government¹s plans for changes in its rules for interchangeability. At present, the Ontario rules for generic substitution are very tight, and it appears that the government intends to loosen them.
The OMA will be seeking to ensure that physicians can rely upon the fact that dispensing pharmacists will not substitute the medication they ordered for a product that is deemed "similar."
The government intends to establish a "Shared Care Network" to promote best practices using web-based materials. The OMA will seek to ensure that any such guidelines are used on a voluntary basis, and not used as means to coerce physicians to prescribe in particular ways.
Additional aspects of the legislation will be outlined in the May issue of the Ontario Medical Review.
The Ministry of Health and Long-term Care recently introduced proposed policy and legislative directions relating to the provincial drug system. The following are areas of interest to physicians:
For several years, the OMA and our members have expressed concerns about the burden of paperwork placed upon physicians through the Individual Clinical Review (also known as "Section 8") and the Limited Use programs. The government has announced that these programs will be eliminated.
Section 8 is to be replaced by a new program called "Conditional Listing," coupled with an "Exceptional Access Mechanism." LU drugs are to be reviewed with the aim of moving them to either the conditional listing category or general benefits.
It is not clear yet what the conditional listing program will look like, but the government claims that the result will be "dramatically less paperwork for physicians."
The exceptional access mechanism will fulfil the original mandate of Section 8 - that is, to provide a means to access unlisted drugs in special circumstances.
Although the elimination of Section 8 and LU is most welcome news, we have work ahead of us to ensure that the replacement program is not merely a name change.
The OMA will monitor the government¹s plans for changes in its rules for interchangeability. At present, the Ontario rules for generic substitution are very tight, and it appears that the government intends to loosen them.
The OMA will be seeking to ensure that physicians can rely upon the fact that dispensing pharmacists will not substitute the medication they ordered for a product that is deemed "similar."
The government intends to establish a "Shared Care Network" to promote best practices using web-based materials. The OMA will seek to ensure that any such guidelines are used on a voluntary basis, and not used as means to coerce physicians to prescribe in particular ways.
Additional aspects of the legislation will be outlined in the May issue of the Ontario Medical Review.
posted by Darryl at 10:01 AM
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