Reminder: Referred back and disallowed items going fully digital via MYS from July 2022
Pharmacy contractors are reminded that, from July 2022 (for the dispensing month of June 2022), all new prescription returns/referred back items and disallowed items will be received through the Manage Your Services (MYS) portal and MYS will be the only route available to view and submit required information for all these items.
From July 2022, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) will send out a notification email to the pharmacy NHSmail account if any new referred back or disallowed items have been generated for the contractor to complete on their MYS account. Contractors can view any referred back items for completion by checking the ‘Unpaid items’ tab on MYS landing page.
It is important to note that prescription returns/referred back items via MYS are only held in the system for a period of 18 months from the date they are first sent to the pharmacy for action; if contractors have not completed and returned any outstanding referred backs before this deadline has passed, the referred back items will be deleted from system.
The last paper referred back and disallowed items that will be sent in the post to those contractors still using the paper-based route will relate to prescriptions dispensed in May 2022. The NHSBSA will continue to process any paper referred back items that were sent out before the switchover. Contractors with paper referred back items from previous months should aim to complete the required information and return these to the NHSBSA together with their monthly prescription bundle as soon as possible to avoid any delays to payment. Prescription returns will be processed in line with the guidance for their original submission method and will be priced using the Drug Tariff relevant to the dispensing month in which the prescription return is received by the NHSBSA.
Using MYS for receiving digital referred back and disallowed items allows contractor to:
- receive these items sooner and removes the risk of paper returns getting lost in transit;
- provide information required to processes referred back items faster;
- submit a challenge for any disallowed items electronically;
- track the progress of any referred back items throughout until the point they are processed; and
- generate monthly reports showing the status of any referred back items.
For more information on referred back items please refer to PSNC’s webpage on Prescription returns and PSNC Briefing 020/22: Understanding prescription returns and disallowed items.