title: A review of the medication pathway in rural Queensland, Australia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is well established that rural areas have compromised access to health services, including medication services. This paper reviews the practice developments for rural health professionals in relation to medication processes, with a focus on regulatory provisions in Queensland, Australia, and a view to identifying opportunities for enhanced pharmacy involvement.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature referring to 'medication/medicine', 'rural/remote', 'Australia' and 'pharmacy/pharmacist/pharmaceutical' was identified via EBSCOhost, Ovid, Informit, Pubmed, Embase and The Cochrane Library. Australian Government reports and conference proceedings were sourced from relevant websites. Legislative and policy documents reviewed include drugs and poisons legislation, the National Medicines Policy and the Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council guidelines.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The following developments enhance access to medication services in rural Queensland: (1) endorsement of various non-medical prescribers, (2) authorisation of registered nurses, midwives, paramedics and Indigenous health workers to supply medications in sites without pharmacists, (3) skill-mixing of nursing staff in rural areas to ease medication administration tasks, (4) establishment of pharmacist-mediated medication review services, (5) electronic transfer of medical orders or prescriptions and (6) enhanced transfer of medication information between metropolitan and rural, and public and private facilities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review identified a divide between medication access and medication management services. Initiatives aiming to improve supply of (access to) medications focus on scopes of practice and endorsements for non-pharmacist rural healthcare providers. Medication management remains the domain of pharmacists, and is less well addressed by current initiatives. Pharmacists' involvement in rural communities could be enhanced through tele-pharmacy, outreach support and sessional support.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Amy Chen Wee
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Emmerton
authors.forename: Hendrika Laetitia
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Hattingh
mesh_terms: D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D054539:Medication Therapy Management; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000600:supply & distribution; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration; D011793:Queensland; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000600:supply & distribution
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations