Doctors and nurse practitioners are now able to prescribe PBS-subsidised hepatitis B antiviral treatment for eligible patients, following a relaxing of prescriber rules.
Under the changes from 1 September, doctors and authorised nurse practitioners are no longer required to hold specialist hepatitis B s100 prescriber accreditation to prescribe PBS-subsidised hepatitis B antiviral treatment for eligible patients.
For patients and their families, a free and confidential service can help people find the right care, as well as providing comprehensive information on hepatitis.
Hepatitis B medicines, including first-line antiviral therapies such as entecavir and tenofovir, remain listed under the PBS Section 100 Highly Specialised Drugs Program, however the previous hepatitis B prescriber accreditation requirement has been removed.
This change provides an important opportunity to improve access to treatment for people living with chronic hepatitis B and strengthen hepatitis B management within primary care and community-based health services.
While accreditation is no longer required, clinicians who are less experienced in hepatitis B management may still benefit from appropriate education, clinical decision-support tools and specialist advice. A toolkit is available here for clinicians.