NMS payment structure.

[capstain411]

I cannot get my head around the payments for NMS. We do around 5000 items every month. My NMS will be paid in block of 5, with min of 5 and maximum of 20 NMS every month.

Now if I do one NMS say 15th of october, the follow up will go into Nov. so When do I claim for the NMS.

My second query is say I have done 14 NMS by 28th of oct and I obviously wont be having enough time, assuming no new medication being prescribed between 28th and end of the month. So does that mean I should guess once I have done 10 NMS on whether I will be able to do another 5 and conduct NMS otherwise I will be wasting time conducting 4 NMS without earning a penny and spending all my time.

[shan]

Honestly, this whole thing, whoever worked out, is defenitely either a failure in logical thinking or a person tranferred from one of the closing down departments of the Government and has no idea how pharmacy in UK works. As an ardent cricket fan, I would compare this with the (in)famous "duckworth-lewis" method, which till today everyone has failed to understand completely yet it is used in major tournaments and we have seen many big teams losing from a very strong position.

All I can say is, just like when the duckworth lewis method is applied how teams start keeping their eye on the scoreboard and decide their game; similarly the pharmacists will focus more on the number than really providing the service to the fullest potential. So Stupid.

Shan

[shan]

I'll Add some more questions.

1. Does the pharmacy stop follow up for the additional 4 NMS patients for which they will not be paid ??

2. Will you consider the same patient twice in one NMS cycle ?? example: Patient X recruited as he was prescribed Ramipril, after first meeting the pharmacist found it was not suitable and suggested/ the doctor decided suddenly that as per NICE guidance it should have been Amlodipine what do you do ???

3. The same patient as above added Furosemide within 7 days of starting Ramipril, should we treat him as new NMS ??? in this case he will be coming in almost every day depending on all the additions and deletions the doctor would be trying before he decides what is best for the patient. So as such on each visit, will you focus on one medicine corresponding to that NMS follow up or will you do all the new medicines ?? If all medicines then will you be payed seperately ???? Just think of a newly diagnosed diabetic with insulin/ metformin/ strips/ needles/ lancets etc. etc.

Shan

[shan]

Best of all, a Polish/ Arabic/ Asian/ Foreigner who has a broken eglish (I'm sure you guys understand what I mean) comes in to your for the first time with a script and you find he has just moved in. You enquire if it is the first time he is taking this, for which he just nods yes (as they always do for whatever you ask) and you start a new NMS and at the end when put it through for claim then, how will the PCT find out if it was really a new medicine and if they have way to find out and they find that he is been having this medicine for last 2 years then WHAT ???? will the pharmacy be tried for FRAUD ??? will they still pay as the service was provided completely ???? Frustrating isn't it ????? NMS is not worth all the hassle if you have decent prescription turnover and are able to acheive the full MUR quota. Very funny though, I am waiting eagerly for the Christmas Bulletin of Any Leading Pharmacy Magazine to hear (un)success story of the NMS when the first payments would be due

Shan

[LeftArm]

It is important to note that payment is not made on a per completed NMS episode basis. Instead payment is based on the performance of each pharmacy in maximising the completions achieved from the expected NMS opportunities. For a given volume band, the highest target payment represents the maximum monthly payment a pharmacy can receive, irrespective of the actual number of completions it may have achieved.

Are you trying to say that this isn't perfectly clear?

http://www.psnc.org.uk/data/files/Ph...2011_final.pdf

[shan]

Are you trying to say that this isn't perfectly clear?

http://www.psnc.org.uk/data/files/Ph...2011_final.pdf

May be for you, but not for me. It looks so rosey on paper, let's wait and see how it actually works in practice.

Shan

[jay.d]

This is truly a bizarre payment scheme. In my opinion this forces the pharmacist into considering not whether the patient in front of them is eligible for the NMS and may benefit from the service, but whether they can see another 4 patients for the NMS and fit them in alongside their usual workload.

If the patient is to be put first, surely this cannot stand.

[shan]

How bizarre . . . . . . they have proven again that they are all headless chickens and that they keep hanging the carrot infront of the pharmacists which is far from acheiving distance and when you do, it is not all that worth the effort How can you set such a kind of a target when you cant even plan for executing it. It's like sending some one in to the forest and say Go Boy get 5 lions by the end of the day . . . . . without even knowing how many lions will even be within the range that person is going to cover in 24hrs And they rub salt on your wounds by cutting on Category M prices and then issuing statements that the pharmacy profession is not taking any initiatives Show me one such service or any initiative being proposed to GPs ???? without getting some funding the GPs don't even move their finger(s) and still make comments on the pharmacists in a cheap way ??? How Bizarre, How bizarre.

Shan