Australian community pharmacists' experiences of prescription drug monitoring programs: Comparisons between mandated and non-mandated states.

Background: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) track patients' prescription records for high-risk medications and prompt real-time alerts to pharmacists when specific criteria are met. PDMPs are increasingly implemented by healthcare systems to attempt to mitigate harms associated with prescription opioids.

Objective: This study aims to explore and compare PDMP experiences among Australian community pharmacists from states where PDMP use is mandated and non-mandated.

Initiation of buprenorphine in the emergency department or emergency out-of-hospital setting: A mixed-methods systematic review.

Introduction: People who use substances increasingly access healthcare primarily through emergency medical services (EMS) and emergency departments (EDs). To meet the needs of these patients, EMS and EDs have become access points for medications for opioid use disorder (OUD), specifically buprenorphine. This systematic review aimed to quantify the efficacy of these programs, examining retention in treatment for OUD, rates of re-presentation to ED or EMS, and rates of precipitated withdrawal, as well as summarise clinician and patient perspectives on buprenorphine initiation in these settings.

Banging My Head Against a Brick Wall! Enablers and Barriers to Nurse Practitioners Delivering Opioid Agonist Treatments in Regional/Rural Victoria, Australia.

The Victorian government's Alcohol and other drugs (AOD) workforce policy calls for greater recruitment of alcohol and other drugs nurse practitioners (AODNPs). However, frontline organisations in Victoria report several systemic barriers to their recruitment and retention. Additionally, there is scant Australian literature that examines the experiences of AODNP in opioid agonist treatment (OAT) provision in regional/rural areas.

Impact of codeine rescheduling on prescribing of codeine and other opioids: Interrupted time series analyses using Australian general practice data.

Aims: We aimed to determine the impact of codeine rescheduling on prescribing of codeine and other opioids, with a focus on demographic and diagnoses associated with codeine prescribing before and after rescheduling of codeine to prescription-only in February 2018.

Methods: We used interrupted time series analysis (February 2016-February 2020) and probit regression to examine prescribing of codeine and other opioids according to primary care data from 464 general practice clinics in Victoria, Australia.

Results: The rate of codeine prescribing increased in the month following rescheduling (additional 76 people/10000, 95% confidence interval [CI] 49-103), then declined to baseline rates (slope -2.

Development of pharmacy-based best practices to support safer use and management of prescription opioids based on an e-Delphi methodology.

Background: Opioid utilization and related harm have increased in recent decades, notably in Australia, the United States, Canada, and some European countries. For people who are prescribed opioids, pharmacies offer an accessible, regular point-of-contact, providing a unique opportunity to address opioid prescription drugs risks.

Objective: This project aimed to develop consensus-based, best practice statements for improving the safer use of prescription opioids through community pharmacy settings.

Medication management issues perceived by pharmacists and disability caregivers while supporting people with disability.

Background: Australia has a notable gap in guidance for pharmacists, caregivers and disability service providers in: (i) supporting people with disabilities (PWD) within the medication management cycle, (ii) understanding their obligations for providing high quality care, and (iii) preventing medication-related harm.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify medication management issues for PWD from the perspective of disability caregivers and pharmacists when supporting PWD with their medication.

Methods: A qualitative study design using semi-structured interviews of pharmacists and disability caregivers was undertaken across six different states or territories in Australia.

Using Text Messaging Surveys in General Practice Research to Engage With People From Low-Income Groups: Multi-Methods Study.

Background: SMS text messages through mobile phones are a common means of interpersonal communication. SMS text message surveys are gaining traction in health care and research due to their feasibility and patient acceptability. However, challenges arise in implementing SMS text message surveys, especially when targeting marginalized populations, because of barriers to accessing phones and data as well as communication difficulties.

Correlates of stocking naloxone: a cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists.

Background: Provision of take-home naloxone (THN) and overdose education reduces opioid-related mortality. In Australia, from July 2022, all Australian community pharmacies were eligible to supply naloxone for free through the national THN Program.

Aim: This study aimed to identify naloxone stocking rates and correlates of stocking naloxone across Australian pharmacies.

The impact of codeine rescheduling on non-opioid analgesic use by people who regularly use codeine: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Codeine was rescheduled in Australia to prescription only in February 2018. Initial studies reported an increase in population level paracetamol and ibuprofen sales following codeine upscheduling. However, to date no study has been able to investigate changes in non-opioid analgesic use at the individual patient level to determine if sales data reflect actual consumption patterns.

Do video or telephone consultations impact attendance rates in an addiction medicine specialist outpatient clinic?

Background: Effective alcohol and other drugs (AODs) treatment has been proven to increase productivity and reduce costs to the community. Telehealth has previously been proven effective at delivering AOD treatment in the right settings. Yet, Australia's current Medicare funding restricts telephone consultations.

Pharmacist-prescriber collaborative models of care for opioid use disorder: an overview of recent research.

Purpose Of Review: Collaborative models of care where pharmacists work alongside physicians have been developed for a range of physical health conditions, with benefits including improved patient outcomes and increased access to ongoing care. Opioid agonist treatment (methadone and buprenorphine) is a clinically effective and cost-effective treatment for opioid use disorder that is under-utilized in many countries due to a shortage of prescribers. In recent years, there has been increased interest in the development of collaborative models that utilize pharmacists to overcome barriers to treatment.

Stocking and supplying naloxone: Findings from a representative sample of community pharmacies in Victoria, Australia.

Introduction: Naloxone is an opioid receptor antagonist, which can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Community pharmacists may experience several barriers to stocking and supplying naloxone including a lack of confidence or knowledge and time constraints. The current study aimed to examine the extent to which Victorian community pharmacies stock and supply naloxone and determine specific characteristics associated with stocking naloxone.

96-week retention in treatment with extended-release subcutaneous buprenorphine depot injections among people with opioid dependence: Extended follow-up after a single-arm trial.

Background: The most recent formulation of buprenorphine treatment is extended-release depot injections (BUP-XR) that are administered subcutaneously by health care professionals. This study aimed to observe treatment outcomes of BUP-XR delivered in standard practice during a 96-week follow-up period in a community setting.

Methods: This study is an extension of the CoLAB study, a prospective single-arm, multicentre, open label trial (N=100, 7 sites in Australia) among people with opioid dependence who received monthly injections of BUP-XR to evaluate the retention in treatment.

Capture, Coding, and Reporting of Health Care and Medicine Information in Australian Workers' Compensation Systems.

Objective: This study aims to characterize the approaches to collecting, coding, and reporting health care and medicines data within Australian workers' compensation schemes.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of data and information professionals in major Australian workers' compensation jurisdictions. Questionnaires were developed with input from key informants and a review of existing documentation.

Association of state-level prescription drug monitoring program implementation with opioid prescribing transitions in primary care in Australia.

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate whether voluntary and mandatory prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) use in Victoria, Australia, had an impact on prescribing behaviour, focusing on individual patients' prescribed opioid doses and transition to prescribing of nonmonitored medications.

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study using routinely collected primary healthcare data. A 90-day moving average prescribed opioid dose in oral morphine equivalents was used to estimate opioid dosage.