{"id":502537,"date":"2026-02-25T06:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502537\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T06:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:11:13","slug":"hmr-caps-lead-to-dire-medicine-review-gaps-in-regional-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502537\/","title":{"rendered":"HMR caps lead to dire medicine review gaps in regional Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HMR\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This in-demand credentialed pharmacist can\u2019t adequately service her community due to restrictions on the Home Medicines Review (HMR) service.<\/p>\n

As a credentialed pharmacist in regional Victoria, Kelly Abbott MPS provides medicines reviews to patients with complex health needs. But strict monthly caps and stagnant fees mean she can\u2019t see everyone who is referred to her \u2013 even when the need is clear.<\/p>\n

And sometimes, the call comes too late.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve knocked on a door to have the [patient\u2019s] husband tell me, \u201coh, she died\u201d,\u2019 Ms Abbott said. \u2018That\u2019s happened multiple times.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"HMR\"Kelly Abbott MPS<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no way to prove whether an earlier HMR would have changed those outcomes. But for a pharmacist trained to identify medicine-related risk, these moments stay with you.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s heartbreaking, it\u2019s wrong and it shouldn\u2019t be that way,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Knocking on doors<\/p>\n

Ms Abbott practises in Gippsland, Victoria \u2013 recently labelled\u00a0 \u2018Australia\u2019s unhealthiest region\u2019 in the media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The statistics are confronting: high smoking rates, significant socioeconomic disadvantage, and high burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular disease. \u2018If you look at a map of heart attacks in Victoria,\u2019 Ms Abbott said, \u2018Gippsland is just red.\u2019<\/p>\n

In a region like this, preventive medicines care matters. Yet access is rationed.<\/p>\n

Ms Abbott consistently hits the 30-HMR monthly cap.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have not had a month under 30 [HMRs] since September 2023,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Demand far exceeds what she\u2019s allowed to provide. Referrals have to wait, clinics juggle priorities, and some GPs even stop sending patients her way because they know she\u2019s hit her limit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like many credentialed pharmacists, Ms Abbott\u2019s wait list is about 2 months long.<\/p>\n

\u2018Currently, if I received your referral today [28 January], I might see you in March at the earliest.\u2019<\/p>\n

A workforce running on goodwill<\/p>\n

Gippsland is not remote in the traditional sense. It sits within reach of Melbourne. Yet Ms Abbott describes a thinning workforce of credentialed pharmacists.<\/p>\n

\u2018There are only four of us in the Latrobe Valley, an hour in either direction,\u2019 she said. \u2018Only one of us has come on board in the last few years.\u2019<\/p>\n

Others have retired and some have simply stopped.<\/p>\n

Ms Abbott is unsurprised by this. \u2018Why would you bother becoming accredited financially right now?\u2019 she asked. \u2018You\u2019re going to earn more and [have] a stable pay cheque in hospital or community pharmacy. Why would you pay to go through a course when you\u2019ve got an absolutely capped income in that work stream?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I have not had a month under 30 [HMRs] since September 2023.\u2019<\/p>\n

kelly abbott mps\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 30-service cap, introduced in 2014, limits how many HMRs a provider can claim per month. HMR fees have not been indexed since July 2019, eroding their real value over time.<\/p>\n

For credentialed pharmacists like Ms Abbott, that combination sends a clear message that their work is undervalued.<\/p>\n

\u2018What other specialist is limited like this?\u2019<\/p>\n

The cost of saying no<\/p>\n

Ms Abbott described refusing some distant referrals because travel makes them financially unviable.<\/p>\n

\u2018I am refusing to go to certain places because it\u2019s just too far,\u2019 she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pharmacists can\u2019t charge for travel as part of an HMR so the system means \u2018those people are missing out\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018This means entire towns are not serviced by HMR providers in Gippsland, Ms Abbott said. \u2018In an area with an ageing population, some of these towns would benefit enormously from medication reviews by a local pharmacist face-to-face.\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not how she wants to practise.<\/p>\n

\u2018I hate thinking that way. I hate being that way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the financial reality is that she can\u2019t afford to make a loss on referrals.<\/p>\n

Her frustration is about sustainability, not about status.<\/p>\n

When remuneration doesn\u2019t reflect the complexity and levels of responsibility, fewer pharmacists choose to become credentialed. And in high-need areas, that has real consequences.<\/p>\n

Let pharmacists do what they are trained to do<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, Ms Abbott still believes in the value of HMRs.<\/p>\n

\u2018We have great evidence<\/a> that they reduce hospitalisations and they reduce healthcare costs,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018And patients and GPs absolutely love them. The demand alone tells you that.\u2019<\/p>\n

But she can\u2019t meet that demand under current restrictive settings.<\/p>\n

\u2018I love what I do,\u2019 she said. \u2018And there\u2019s so many pharmacists like me who want to do more here.\u00a0 Just let me loose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reform that matches need with value<\/p>\n

PSA\u2019s 2026\u201327 Federal Budget Submission<\/a>, released today (25 February) identifies reform of HMRs as a priority under the First Pharmacy Programs Reform Package<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recommendation 1.1 calls for staged removal of monthly provider caps (commencing with an increase to 60 per month), re-basing and applying annual Wage Cost Index indexation to restore service viability, and improved support for rural delivery and complexity.<\/p>\n

For regions like Gippsland \u2013 with high chronic disease burden and limited workforce \u2013 these changes are not about expanding scope. They are about restoring access.<\/p>\n

Read PSA\u2019s full 2026\u201327 Federal Budget Submission<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This in-demand credentialed pharmacist can\u2019t adequately service her community due to restrictions on the Home Medicines Review (HMR)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[252663,27121,64,63,252664,252665,44,252666],"class_list":["post-502537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-2026-27-federal-budget-submission","tag-aged-care","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-hmr-caps","tag-hmrs","tag-news","tag-residential-medication-management-review-rmmrs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}