On behalf of the Department of Health and Aged Care, AHA administers claims and payments for the 23 Community Pharmacy Programs funded under the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA).

Since February 2019, AHA has administered all registrations, claims and payments for the 23 Programs funded under the 6CPA, 7CPA and now 8CPA.  Programs administered by AHA include the following.

Medication Adherence Programs – to improve medication compliance through the provision of community pharmacy services:

• Dose Administration Aids
• Staged Supply
• Clinical Interventions.

Medication Management Programs – to support quality use of medicine services that are designed to reduce adverse medicine events and associated hospital admissions or medical presentations:

• Home Medicines Reviews,
• Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMRs) and Quality Use of Medicines
• MedsChecks and Diabetes MedsChecks.

Targeted Programs and Services:

• Rural support programs – to improve access to PBS medicines and services for people living in rural and remote regions of Australia
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander support programs – to improve quality use of medicines and culturally appropriate services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Patients
• Aged Care On-site Pharmacist (ACOP) program –  to improve medication management and safety for residents through aged care credentialed pharmacists working on-site in residential aged care homes (RACHs)
• Take Home Naloxone program – makes the medicine naloxone free and available without a prescription to people who are at risk of, or who may witness, an opioid overdose or adverse reaction
• National Immunisation Program Vaccinations in Pharmacy (NIPVIP) program – allows eligible patients to access free National Immunisation Program (NIP) vaccines in a community pharmacy.

AHA operates under the name ‘Pharmacy Programs Administrator’ (PPA) for the administration of these important programs.  Click here to view the ‘welcome’ video, which is also available at the ‘New Users’ section of the PPA website www.ppaonline.com.au

AHA was awarded this services agreement following a competitive tender process undertaken by the Department of Health, based on AHA’s substantial experience administering government programs. Notably, AHA currently administers the Community Service Obligation (CSO) Funding Pool and the Chemotherapy Compounding Payment Scheme (CCPS) on behalf of the Department.

Richard Stock, AHA Founding Director, said:

“Our aim is to build on the committed work of the Guild which has administered these programs over many years, to ensure professional and efficient payment for services to pharmacies and other stakeholders.”

AHA has engaged the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) to advise on and support the administration of these programs.