MedsCheck

If you take several medicines and have never sat down and gone through them properly, a MedsCheck is for you. It is a free, private conversation with a pharmacist about everything you take, designed to catch the small problems that quietly add up: a tablet you are not sure why you take, two products that should not be combined, an inhaler you have never quite mastered.

What is a MedsCheck?

A MedsCheck is a one-on-one medicines review carried out in a private area of the pharmacy. It is funded by the Australian Government through the Pharmacy Programs Administrator, so for eligible patients there is no fee. The pharmacist goes through each of your medicines with you, checks how and when you take them, looks for interactions or duplications, and helps with any practical problems. You leave with a clear, written medicines list you can keep and share with your doctors.

It is not a diagnosis or a treatment, and it does not replace your GP. Think of it as a tune-up and a translation: it turns a confusing bag of boxes into something you understand.

Who is it for?

MedsCheck services generally focus on people living in the community (not in residential aged care) who hold Medicare or DVA eligibility and take several regular medicines. It tends to help most if you:

• take multiple prescription medicines and want to understand them better;
• have recently had medicines changed, or come out of hospital;
• are unsure about timing, side effects, or what each medicine is for;
• use inhalers, eye drops, or injectables and want your technique checked.

Program rules, including how recently you can have had a MedsCheck or a Home Medicines Review, can change, so ask the pharmacy whether you currently qualify.

How it works at the pharmacy

Bring everything: all your prescription medicines, plus the over-the-counter products, vitamins, supplements, inhalers, patches, and creams you use, and any medicines list you already keep. The single most useful thing you can do is tip the lot into a bag and bring it in, because the items people forget to mention are often where the trouble hides.

The pharmacist will ask how you take each item, what concerns you have, and whether side effects or missed doses are a problem. You might discuss what each medicine is for, the best timing around meals and sleep, possible interactions, and your device technique. At the end you get a written medicines list, and the pharmacist may suggest questions to raise with your GP.

When you need more than a MedsCheck

A MedsCheck is a great starting point, but it is not the right tool for every situation. If your medicines are genuinely complex, your GP can refer you for a Home Medicines Review, where a pharmacist reviews your medicines in your own home and reports back to your doctor. Any actual change to prescribed treatment is a decision for your prescriber, not something settled at the pharmacy counter.

How it’s regulated in Australia

MedsCheck and Diabetes MedsCheck are professional pharmacy programs funded under the Community Pharmacy Agreement and administered by the Pharmacy Programs Administrator (PPA), with eligibility rules set nationally. The pharmacist delivering it is a registered health practitioner regulated by the Pharmacy Board of Australia. Because it is a funded program, eligibility and how many services you can receive in a period are defined by the program rules rather than by the individual pharmacy.

Official sources

• Pharmacy Programs Administrator: MedsCheck and Diabetes MedsCheck
• Healthdirect: managing your medicines

A MedsCheck works best when you book ahead and bring everything you take. Use the button below to find a pharmacy near you that offers it.