Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No. 53 of 1974)Board NoticesAnnexure A : Guidelines for Levying a Fee or Fees |
Board Notice 106 of 2004
General guidelines governing the determination of a fee or fees
| 1) | Nature of services provided |
A pharmacist may, in charging a fee for professional services rendered by him/her take into account one or more of the following factors -
| a) | the nature of the professional service rendered; |
| b) | the time of day and circumstances under which the service is rendered. |
| 2) | Consultations |
| 2.1 | A consultation refers to a situation where a pharmacist personally takes down a patient's history, performs an appropriate health examination, including observations, or reviews the patient's medicine-related needs without a physical examination, and plans appropriate interventions/treatment. |
| 2.2 | A prolonged consultation refers to a consultation with a duration of longer than 30 minutes due to an emergency situation or the necessity for the pharmacist's prolonged attention to the patient or his/her medicine-related needs. |
| 2.3 | A consultation may not be charged for where the sole purpose of the visit is to perform a procedure and no other interaction between the pharmacist and the patient takes place. |
| 3) | Travelling and after-hour fees |
Where a pharmacist is called out from his/her pharmacy, or the pharmacy in which he/she practises, or residence, a fee including the travelling time and costs, as well as time spent, may be charged.
| 4) | Collaboration with other health care professionals |
Services may be provided in collaboration with a registered nurse or other registered health care professional as agreed to by the Council and the other statutory health council in question.
A pharmacist's guide to fees
| 5) | Procedures |
| 5.1 | Services for which a fee or fees may be levied, may be divided (separated) into procedures as indicated in the Schedule and a fee be charged for the performance of a particular procedure(s). If a procedure is performed at the time of the first counselling, the fee for the counselling plus the cost of the materials used may be recovered as separate charges. |
| 5.2 | The fee per procedure should be based on a procedure code. |
| 5.3 | The fee for after-hours and/or call-out may be separate codes. |
| 5.4 | The fees will be reviewed on an annual basis by a competent authority. |
| 5.5 | To promote transparency, all fees levied must be indicated separately. |
| 6) | Fee for procedures |
| 6.1 | The pharmacist’s fee should be based on an hourly tariff. |
| 6.2 | Specific units should be allocated to each procedure. Units are determined as follows: |
One unit = 1 minute = R6
| 6.3 | The units as contained in the Schedule are the maximum units that may be allocated per procedure. |
| 7) | Pharmacy support personnel |
The fee or fees may be levied by a pharmacist whether the service concerned is provided in full or with the assistance of a pharmacist’s assistant in a pharmacy, subject thereto that a pharmacist’s assistant may only be utilised to provide a service or perform an act falling within the scope of practice of the category of pharmacist’s assistant so utilised.
| 8) | Comparable services |
Services for which a fee or fees may be levied as listed in the Schedule may be added to the Schedule from time to time. The fee that may be charged for such a service may be based on a fee for a comparable service or procedure appearing in the Schedule.
| 9) | Facility fee |
A fee may be levied by a pharmacist for the provision and/or utilisation of the facilities for the processing of medical aid claims (as per procedure code 0017).
| 10) | Dispensing fee |
Procedure Codes 0001, 0002, 0003 will be deemed to be addressed by the pricing of prescriptions in accordance with the regulations relating to a transparent pricing system (GNR 553 of 30 April 2004).
| 11) | VAT |
These fees are exclusive of VAT.
The Schedule /Table which follows, may be found in Government Gazette No. 26904 dated 15 October 2004.