National Prescribing Service
 |
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| Motto | We’re for a medicinewise Australia. Independent. Not-for-profit. Evidence based. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Type | Not for profit |
| Focus | Medicines, medical tests |
| Location | |
| Locations | |
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Area served
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Australia |
| Method | Educational programs and professional development, public campaigns, publications |
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Employees
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200+ |
| Mission | For all Australians to be medicinewise and experience the health and economic benefits this brings. |
| Website | www |
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Formerly called
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National Prescribing Service |
Established in March 1998, NPS MedicineWise (known prior to 2009 as the National Prescribing Service) is a not-for-profit organisation whose programs are funded by the Department of Health (Australia). Since July 2012, the organisation has been officially known as NPS MedicineWise.
NPS MedicineWise provides practical tools (such as medicines lists), evidence-based information, and educational activities, with the intention of improving the way health technologies, including how medicines and medical tests, are prescribed and used.
NPS MedicineWise was founded in 1998 as part of an Australian Government shift in health policy to address issues around Quality Use of Medicines (QUM). NPS MedicineWise' initial mandate was to reduce cost of medicines to Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) by providing clinically reviewed independent information about medicines to doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals. Many of these materials relate to new drugs or more complex grey-areas in the prescription process.
Since 2003, NPS MedicineWise has assumed a secondary mandate: promoting discussion of basic medicine-related issues in the community via consumer education programs and major award-winning campaigns, including Be Medicinewise Week, launched in January 2011. The campaign was broadcast across a wide spectrum of media channels and addressed common health issues such as lower back pain, antibiotics and the active ingredient of medicines.
Although NPS MedicineWise has brought wide-ranging savings to the Australian health system, critics have questioned the actual causes and ramifications of such savings. However the savings reported by the organisation are comprehensively evaluated and accepted by government, demonstrating a clear correlation between NPS MedicineWise programs and improved prescribing.
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