20 years ago health and community leaders had a shared vision to improve
quality use of medicines. The World Health Organization estimated over half
of all medicines globally were inappropriately prescribed or sold and
half of all patients were taking their medicines incorrectly. In 1985 it held a
conference on the rational use of medicines that acted as a powerful
catalyst for change. Countries started looking for solutions to improve the
uses of medicines and patient outcomes. In Australia, it was clear something
needed to change. During the 1990s Australia developed its first National
Medicines Policy. Visionary consumer and peak health groups drove the development
of a national strategy to improve quality use of medicines. National
coordination and a collaborative approach were identified as key to
achieving real and sustained impact. In 1998 the National Prescribing Service
was established as an independent organization at arm's length from
government to drive quality use of medicines. The mission was clear: to
improve health outcomes for Australians by supporting quality prescribing right
across the country. The National Prescribing Service started with the
inaugural CEO, Dr. Lynn Weekes. Soon we had a small team and our first office in a
pink Terrace house in Sydney. In the early days the team fielded many phone
calls, explaining to curious health professionals the organization's goals.
We started educational visits to GPs - this was a big moment as we offered
evidence-based information from an independent source reducing reliance on
the pharmaceutical industry.
[Doctor] I think this is a very comprehensive evaluation of current data.
Other early interventions included
clinical audits and the National Prescribing Curriculum for medical
students to learn quality prescribing and later adapted for other health
professional students. Australian Prescriber came on board in 2002 and our
first NPS Radar was published, offering health professionals credible peer
reviewed medicines information. By 2003, the organisation had grown to over 50
staff and we hit a milestone of 10,000 educational visits.
[Demonstrator] would you like to try it again?
Our connections and partnerships with peak health and
community organisations were fundamental to the success of our programs. From the
outset consumers have been central to our work - we initiated peer education and
community programs and ran several award-winning national campaigns
including 'common colds need common sense' and 'medicines without the mix ups.'
National initiatives like these helped grow
awareness of quality use of medicines and actively engage people in their
health care. From humble beginnings we had grown into what the World Health
Organization described as "a leader in quality use of medicines"
[Man] We use the NPS system and model.
With evaluation frameworks among the best in the world and a model for
other countries to follow. Around the ten year mark we geared up to take the next
step in our journey. In 2010, with a hundred and twenty employees in a
renewed focus, we rebranded the company as NPS MedicineWise. This rebrand was a
catalyst to engage consumers in new and innovative ways. Our 'why?' campaign
and the introduction of an annual Be MedicineWise week supported consumers
to make better medicines choices and our sustained five-year campaign to address
antibiotic resistance provided opportunities for national conversations
about medicines and empowering people in decision-making. The medicines line, a
national phone service, was brought in house to connect more Australians with
the information about their medicines. In 2011 our MedicineWise app was launched
to help consumers manage their medicines and we've continued to evolve this as
technology and user needs change. We have continuously improved our
programs, visiting well over half of all GPs across Australia each year and
supporting best practice prescribing and patient management across different care
settings. Our work has expanded beyond medicines to medical tests - we started
our groundbreaking national primary care data program MedicineInsight. We
synthesized evidence and guidelines and contextualize this to support best practice.
[Interviewee] the depth of opportunity with medicine insight is phenomenal.
We launched Choosing Wisely Australia to reduce unnecessary or harmful healthcare.
[Man] Choosing Wisely really has been a very powerful vehicle.
Our work is far from over.
Towards 2023 NPS MedicineWise will continue to improve health literacy
and empower people to take control of their health.
We will create more innovative
clinical improvement solutions to meet the needs of Australians. We will strive
to remain the leader in quality use of medicines, tests and technologies.
20 years ago the need for quality use of medicines was clear.
Today, with the help of close to 300 employees we can proudly say that we are
delivering on our promise to improve health outcomes for all Australians.
Our work has delivered combined savings of more than 1 billion dollars to the PBS
and MBS, safeguarding precious health resources and far exceeding our cost to
taxpayers. More importantly, it has driven better health outcomes for Australians.
Today, millions of Australians are aware of the work we do.
Today, together, we continue building a MedicineWise Australia.