Applying to become a prescriber of funded antiretroviral agents (ARTs)

Prescribing antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV infection is a specialist area that requires appropriate:

• training
• experience
• ongoing clinical management of people with HIV.

For this reason, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora maintains a list of clinicians approved to prescribe antiretroviral therapy for the treatment of HIV in Aotearoa.

To become an ART prescriber you will need to:

• demonstrate you meet the criteria — usually by a letter supported by your CV
• arrange for a letter of support for your application from a colleague who is an approved prescriber of ARTs in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Your colleague's letter should address the competency and currency requirements specified below.

Competency

1. The clinician must hold an appropriate specialist qualification in internal medicine, paediatrics, or sexual health.
2. The clinician should have received appropriate training in HIV medicine as part of their advanced training programme. For example, infectious disease physicians or sexual health physicians all undergo a substantive component of training with respect to HIV management as a core component of their advanced training programmes.
3. The clinician should have experience of supervised management of HIV infection over a period of time. The general recommendation being that such care would normally involve at least 5 to 10 people living with HIV over a period of at least 2 to 3 years.

Currency

1. The clinician will have ongoing clinical responsibility for the management of people living with HIV.
2. The clinician needs to show evidence of belonging to a specialist society that has significant involvement with HIV medicine, or other avenues of clinical medicine that have particular responsibility for the management of HIV. Society specialisations such as infectious diseases, sexual health, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology are suitable. Membership of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM) is also suitable.
3. If the clinician has completed the Australian advanced training module for HIV prescribing, and has prescribing rights for Australia and shows evidence of ongoing educational training, then they can be considered for prescribing rights for antiretroviral agents in New Zealand.
4. The clinician should be able to show evidence of attending regular clinical meetings where HIV has a significant component, such as Australasian Society of Infectious Diseases (ASID meetings) or specialist HIV meetings such as the ASHM Conference or the International AIDS Society (IAS) meetings.
5. The clinician should be recognised and supported by local colleagues as having a particular interest and expertise in the management of HIV infections, and those colleagues should be prepared to propose the clinician for inclusion on the antiretroviral prescribing list.
6. The publication of papers, posters or presentations attesting to the clinician’s involvement in the field of HIV medicine can also be presented for consideration. These confirm the clinician’s clinical experience and involvement in the field of HIV medicine.

Credentialing

1. The clinician should be able to provide evidence of being credentialed for the management of HIV infection in the institution where they currently work or are proposing to work.

Send your application to customerservice@health.govt.nz.

If you have any questions call 0800 855 066 — select option 3, then option 2.

Panel of HIV Specialists review

Once Health New Zealand has received the information required for your application, they will forward it to the Panel of HIV Specialists for assessment and advice. 

The panel will advise Health New Zealand if you meet the requirements to become an ART prescriber. PHARMAC will then be informed that you have been approved to prescribe funded HIV antiretroviral agents. 

PHARMAC will set its systems to recognise that you are a new approved prescriber. They will let you know that you can now prescribe ART for the treatment of HIV. 

If the panel has any questions or concerns about your application, Health New Zealand will contact you. 

Prescriber list review

Clinician’s names on the antiretroviral prescribing list are reviewed every 5 years. A letter is sent to the clinician asking them to confirm that they can provide evidence to Health New Zealand of their ongoing suitability to be an antiretroviral prescriber.