MedsCheck and Home Medicines Review: Free Medicine Reviews in Australia

Eligibility, format, and the role of your GP differ between the two. This guide explains who qualifies for which, what happens at the appointment, and what the pharmacist does with the findings.

MedsCheck explained

MedsCheck is a 20 to 30 minute consultation between you and a community pharmacist, held in a private consultation area at the pharmacy. There is no charge. You do not need a referral.

The pharmacist reviews every medicine you take, prescription and over-the-counter, plus any vitamins or complementary products. They check whether you understand what each one is for, how to take it, what side effects to watch for, and whether any pair might interact. If anything looks off, they flag it for follow-up with your GP.

MedsCheck is funded under the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA) and administered by the Pharmacy Programs Administrator. The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia publishes professional practice standards for the service at psa.org.au.

HMR explained

A Home Medicines Review is more in-depth. An accredited pharmacist (one with extra training in medicine review) visits you at home, spends 45 to 60 minutes going through your medicines, and writes a clinical report. That report goes to your GP, who uses it to update your medicines management plan with you at a follow-up appointment.

The home visit matters. The pharmacist can see how you store your medicines, what is sitting in the cupboard from old prescriptions, and whether the dose times you actually use match what the GP intended. Things that are invisible inside a 10 minute GP appointment become obvious in your kitchen.

HMR is also funded by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing under the Community Pharmacy Agreement. Program rules are documented at ppaonline.com.au.

Eligibility: MedsCheck

You qualify for a standard MedsCheck if you:

• Take five or more regular prescription medicines
• Have had a recent change to your medicines (new prescription, dose change, stopped medicine)
• Have been discharged from hospital in the last four weeks
• Have a chronic condition such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, or arthritis
• Are not currently receiving an HMR

You are limited to one MedsCheck per year under the federal funding rules. If your circumstances change part way through the year (a new diagnosis, a major medicine change), your pharmacist can speak to the Pharmacy Programs Administrator about an additional service.

Eligibility: HMR

You qualify for a Home Medicines Review if your GP refers you and you:

• Take five or more regular medicines
• Take more than 12 doses per day
• Have had recent significant changes to your medicines
• Have been discharged from hospital in the last four weeks with medicine changes
• Have a condition where small medicine errors carry larger risk (such as heart failure, epilepsy, or kidney disease)
• Are struggling to manage your medicines at home

The HMR pathway starts with your GP. They issue a referral to an accredited pharmacist (or to your community pharmacy, which then nominates an accredited pharmacist). You can ask your GP for a referral at any standard appointment.

You are eligible for one HMR every 24 months under standard rules, with provision for an interval review if circumstances change significantly.

MedsCheck vs HMR at a glance

Feature	MedsCheck	Home Medicines Review
Setting	Pharmacy consultation room	Your home
Length	20 to 30 minutes	45 to 60 minutes
Referral	No referral needed	GP referral required
Cost to you	Free	Free
Frequency	One per year	One every 24 months
Written report to GP	No	Yes

The HMR home-visit process

Once your GP issues the referral, the steps look like this.

1. The accredited pharmacist contacts you to book a visit at a time that suits. Most pharmacists work weekdays; some offer evening visits.
2. On the day, the pharmacist arrives at your home and asks to see every medicine you take, including anything in cupboards or drawers from previous prescriptions, vitamins, herbal products, and anything bought without a script.
3. They go through how you take each one, what time of day, with or without food, and what you understand the medicine to be for.
4. They check the storage. Insulin in a hot windowsill, glyceryl trinitrate sprays past their expiry, tablets stored in a damp bathroom: all of these get flagged.
5. They ask about side effects you have noticed, anything you have stopped taking and why, and whether cost is an issue.
6. They leave you with a brief summary of what they observed. The full clinical report goes to your GP.

The visit is private. The pharmacist is bound by the same confidentiality rules as your GP.

What happens to the report

The accredited pharmacist writes a clinical report and sends it to your referring GP, usually within one to two weeks of the visit. The report identifies:

• Any medicine interactions, duplicates, or therapeutic class overlaps
• Doses that may need review
• Adherence issues (medicines you are missing or doubling)
• Storage problems
• Recommendations for the GP to consider

Your GP then books a follow-up appointment with you to discuss the report and adjust your medicines management plan. This GP follow-up is billable as a standard consultation under Medicare. The HMR pharmacist visit itself is the part that is free.

You can ask your GP for a copy of the HMR report. It is your health record and you are entitled to it under Australian privacy law.

Diabetes MedsCheck

If you have type 2 diabetes, you may qualify for a specialised version called Diabetes MedsCheck instead of a standard one. It takes longer (around 45 minutes), covers blood glucose monitoring technique and timing, foot care, and how your diabetes medicines fit into the rest of your routine.

Eligibility: you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, you are not optimally managed (your most recent HbA1c is above target, or your GP has flagged a control issue), and you are not currently receiving an HMR.

Diabetes MedsCheck is funded under the same Community Pharmacy Agreement and is provided once every 12 months. The National Diabetes Services Scheme also runs free education sessions that complement the service.

For the Department of Health's general overview of medicine review programs, see healthdirect.gov.au.