PBS Practice Review – The role of bDMARDs in the management of rheumatoid arthritis

NPS MedicineWise, in collaboration with the Australian Rheumatology Association, will be sending out PBS Practice Review reports this week to around 450 rheumatologists and relevant immunologists across Australia. For prescribers, these reports contain their individualised data on their prescribing of Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) and other medicines used to manage rheumatoid arthritis.

The PBS Practice Review reports, intended for health professional personal reflection and not regulatory auditing processes, have been developed under the Targeted Therapies Alliance. The Targeted Therapies Alliance is a consortium of organisations representing specialists, pharmacists, consumers and research experts with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health through the Value in Prescribing- bDMARDs Program Grant, that provides stewardship and direction about the safe and wise use of biologic-DMARDs (bDMARDs) and other specialised medicines for health professionals and consumers.

The report encourages optimisation of first line treatment and aims to help guide treatment decisions around choice of biologics and minimisation of glucocorticoid and opioid use.

NPS MedicineWise CEO, Adj A/Prof Steve Morris says this PBS Practice Review provides an opportunity for rheumatologists and clinical immunologists to reflect on their use of bDMARDs and other specialised medicines in the management of rheumatoid arthritis.

“This PBS Practice Review is just one of the resources that the Alliance is developing for specialists. Other resources will be developed for pharmacists and nurses, hospitals and Drug and Therapeutics Committees, and consumers to ensure the best possible health and economic outcomes from investment in these therapies,” he says.

President of the Australian Rheumatology Association, Professor Catherine Hill says the Alliance is bringing together knowledge and expertise from important stakeholders to help specialists optimise their own management of rheumatoid arthritis and to support other health professionals caring for patients who take these medicines.

“Over the coming months, the organisations who make up the Alliance will publish specific information about the use of biological and other specialised medicines across a range of rheumatology, dermatology and gastroenterology conditions,” she says.

For more information on the Targeted Therapies Alliance, bDMARDs and other specialised medicines, visit the program websitewebsite.