The BEACH Project
Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health
Conducted by the Australian General Practice Statistics and Classification Centre (AGPSCC).
Australian General Practice Statistics and Classification Centre (AGPSCC)
is a Collaborating Unit of the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
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The Weighted Average Monthly Treatment Cost (WAMTC)
What is it?
The weighted average monthly treatment cost (WAMTC) is calculated for specific classes of
medicines as part of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Pricing Authority's annual price reviews of PBS
medicines. The WAMTC is calculated from dosage regimen prescribed by GPs.
WAMTC classes designated to BEACH
Currently the Pharmaceutical Benefits Pricing Authority selected BEACH as the designated data source for calculating WAMTC for the following therapeutic drug classes:
- ACE inhibitors
- Calcium Channel Blockers (CCBs)
- Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors plus selected other anti-depressants (SSRIs plus)
- Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)
BEACH data will therefore be used for calculating WAMTCs for the above classes until 2007.
What you get
A spreadsheet for each molecule within the class summarising the dose regimens in the format below:
BEACH Dosage data (NB sample only-data are not complete)
| Generic | strength | dose units | dose per day | projected* | unprojected (sample n) |
| Lisinopril | 10 | 1 | 1 | 66366.7 | 82 |
| Lisinopril | 10 | 1 | 2 | 2625.1 | 3 |
| Lisinopril | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1650.1 | 3 |
| Lisinopril | 20 | 0.5 | 1 | 4283.4 | 3 |
| Lisinopril | 20 | 0.5 | 2 | 263.9 | 1 |
* projected totals are weighted for GP characteristics and extrapolated to 100 million general practice (A1) Medicare claims made in Australia per year.
This table can be copied straight into the WAMTC calculator.
Pharmaceutical companies with products subject to WAMTC price adjustments may be interested in
purchasing these dosage data for the next price review for ACE inhibitors, CCBs or SSRIsPlus.
Dosage data for interim periods may also be useful for tracking WAMTC trends before the start of
the next pricing round.
Other dosage data
BEACH can also provide dosage data for the following classes
- ATRAs
- Statins
Although BEACH is not the designated data source for these classes, BEACH data may be useful for
those companies who want to make a comparison between BEACH and the designated data sources.
Charges for WAMTC dosage data
Industry and government:
Contact us:
If you want to know more about using BEACH dosage data for
WAMTC please contact us.
| A/Prof Helena Britt Telephone: +61 2 9845 8150 Fax: +61 2 9845 8155 E-mail: wamtc@fmrc.org.au |
