PHARMAC Schedule April 2026 Live

Prescribing intelligence
built for Aotearoa

Ask any medicine question in plain English. Get answers grounded in Medsafe data sheets, the PHARMAC Schedule, and NZ clinical guidelines. Every source cited, nothing hallucinated.

Try a demo query For Health Accelerator partners

Built by Waka Research Ltd Registered in Aotearoa New Zealand

Live Session
"Renal dose for metformin, eGFR 35?"
For eGFR 30-45, reduce to 500-1000 mg twice daily. Review every 3-6 months. PHARMAC fully subsidises, no SA required.
Medsafe PHARMAC Apr 2026
Waka Rx Clinical Live session
GP
Renal dose for metformin, eGFR 35?
Rx
For eGFR 30-45, reduce metformin to 500-1000 mg twice daily. Review every 3-6 months. Contraindicated below eGFR 30. PHARMAC fully subsidises metformin, no Special Authority required.
Medsafe data sheet PHARMAC April 2026
GP
Any funded alternatives if I need to stop it?
Rx
PHARMAC fully funds empagliflozin and sitagliptin as alternatives, subject to Special Authority. Gliclazide is funded without SA as the simplest switch for type 2 diabetes.
PHARMAC Schedule SA criteria
Ask about any medicine...
NEW: February 2026
12-month prescriptions now live. More judgment required at every consult.
Prescribers must determine clinically appropriate prescription length per patient, up to 12 months. No centralised list of eligible drugs. Each GP decides. More Schedule complexity. Waka Rx makes that decision faster and safer.
Built on NZ data sources
33%
GP practices closed to new enrolments
Health NZ January 2025
74
GPs per 100,000 people vs 116 in Australia
RNZCGP Workforce Report
44
Māori with unmet primary care needs
Int'l Journal of Equity in Health 2024
The problem

GPs are stretched. The Schedule keeps changing. Static PDFs aren't enough.

NZ primary care is under pressure. Workforce shortages, a complex and frequently updated PHARMAC Schedule, and fragmented data sources mean prescribers spend time searching instead of caring.

Workforce crisis
14M
Consultations per year from just 5,600 specialist GPs. Administrative burden described as "overwhelming" by RNZCGP.
Schedule complexity
12-mo
New prescription length rules from February 2026. More per-patient judgment required, more Schedule rules to interpret at every consult.
Fragmented sources
3+
Systems a GP must cross-reference: Medsafe data sheets, PHARMAC Schedule, BPAC NZ guidelines. None integrated.
Equity gap
44%
Māori with unmet primary care needs. Consistently lower access to funded medicines. PHARMAC's stated goal is to eliminate this inequity.
How it works

One question. Three sources. Cited answer in seconds.

1
Ask in plain English
"What's the renal dose for metformin in an elderly patient?" No codes, no jargon, no search operators.
2
RAG retrieval across all NZ sources
The system queries Medsafe data sheets, the live PHARMAC Schedule, BPAC NZ guidelines, and Special Authority criteria simultaneously.
3
Cited answer with source attribution
Every response names the exact source, section, and page. No hallucination. Designed for clinical governance review.
4
Live sync. Never stale.
PHARMAC updates monthly. Medsafe registers continuously. Waka Rx auto-syncs. Your answers reflect today's Schedule, not last year's PDF.
Data sources indexed
Medsafe Data Sheets
All registered NZ medicines
Live
PHARMAC Schedule
Funding, SA criteria, subsidy
Monthly
BPAC NZ Guidelines
Clinical best practice
Synced
Special Authority Criteria
Full SA eligibility rules
Live
What you get

Built for the NZ system, not adapted from somewhere else

PHARMAC-aligned by default
Every answer reflects NZ funding status. Know instantly if a medicine is fully funded, restricted, or requires Special Authority.
Live Schedule sync
PHARMAC updates monthly. Waka Rx stays current. No more checking PDFs for the latest delisting or subsidy change.
Source-cited answers
Every response cites the exact Medsafe data sheet clause or PHARMAC Schedule section. Built for clinical governance.
PMS integration ready
Designed to work alongside Indici and Medtech Global. The same PMS systems Health Accelerator digital assistants already run on.
Drug interaction alerts
Flags clinically significant interactions at point of prescribing. Grounded in Medsafe data, not generic international databases.
Privacy-first architecture
Closed system. No patient data leaves your environment. HIPC and Health NZ privacy standards compliant by design.
Equity commitment

Designed with
Te Tiriti principles

"Pae ora
healthy futures for all."

PHARMAC's stated mission is to eliminate inequities in access to medicines. Waka Rx is built to support that. By surfacing funding status, Special Authority criteria, and funded alternatives in seconds, we reduce the information asymmetry that disproportionately affects Maori, Pacific, and rural patients.

A GP in Northland gets the same prescribing intelligence as one in Ponsonby. That's the goal. Waka Research's partnership with Te Whanau a Apanui through Fjordland Group informs our approach. Equity is not a feature, it is a design requirement.

Education Hub

Learn the NZ medicines landscape
earn CPD credits

AI-powered courses for GPs, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, medical students, and pharma sales reps. Aligned to PHARMAC, Medsafe, and NZ accreditation bodies.

Browse all courses For pharma companies
Courses GP / Nurse Practitioner track

What you need to prescribe confidently in 2026

All courses are grounded in Medsafe-approved data and the current PHARMAC Schedule. Complete with AI tutor, quiz, and verifiable certificate.

12-Month Prescription Rules 2026 Update
Who qualifies, how to document, Special Authority implications, and safe prescribing for chronic conditions under the new PHARMAC rules effective February 2026.
2 RNZCGP credits New 1 hr Quiz + cert
PHARMAC Schedule Feb 2026 AI tutor
Antibiotic Stewardship in NZ Primary Care
Funded vs unfunded antibiotics, PHARMAC preferred choices, resistance patterns in Aotearoa, and culturally safe prescribing for Maori and Pacific patients.
2 RNZCGP credits 1.5 hr Video + quiz
Medsafe BPAC NZ AI tutor
Polypharmacy & Elderly Patients
Managing complex regimens, deprescribing frameworks, PHARMAC-funded alternatives, and fall risk. Aligned to NZ Aged Care clinical guidelines.
3 RNZCGP credits 2 hr Case studies
Medsafe PHARMAC AI tutor
Special Authority Navigating the Process
Step-by-step SA application workflow, common rejection reasons, high-cost medicine criteria, and what changed in the April 2026 Schedule update.
1 RNZCGP credit Updated Apr 2026 45 min
PHARMAC April 2026 AI tutor
CPD accreditation pathway targeting all four NZ health professional bodies
RNZCGP Te Whanake
2 credits/hour GP track
PSNZ
CE accreditation Pharmacist track
Nursing Council NZ
60 hrs / 3 years NP track
Medical Council NZ
Recertification programme
Model: BPAC NZ already endorsed by RNZCGP, PSNZ, and College of Nurses. Waka Rx follows the same accreditation pathway.
AI Tutor

Live video sessions with your AI tutor

Every course includes a live AI tutor avatar you can video call. Ask anything in real-time. It speaks, responds naturally, and cites NZ-specific sources live on screen.

Live Session: Antibiotic Stewardship
12:34
Dr. Waka AI

"Trimethoprim is PHARMAC's first-line funded option for uncomplicated UTIs. But in the first trimester, we switch to amoxicillin because trimethoprim is a folate antagonist..."

Source: Medsafe data sheet + BPAC NZ Guidelines
Live video conversation
Not a text chatbot. A realistic AI avatar responds in real-time with natural speech and expressions.
Sources displayed live
Every answer shows its source on screen - Medsafe data sheets, PHARMAC Schedule, or BPAC NZ guidelines.
Voice interaction
Ask questions by speaking. The AI responds verbally while showing citations on screen.
Mobile-friendly
Complete a module during a commute. The AI tutor and quiz work on any device. No app download required.
The Team

Chiefs, Not Suits

Domain experts, not corporate managers. Built by Waka Research.

CEO

Aaron McCallion

Strategic vision for NZ healthcare AI. Shapes partnerships with DHBs and PHARMAC stakeholders.

CTO

Mark Berry

Clinical informatics and RAG architecture. Designs the retrieval system for Medsafe and PHARMAC data.

CIO

Ugur Inal

Platform infrastructure and AI systems. Builds the LLM pipelines that power prescribing intelligence.

Ready to bring Waka Rx to your practice?

We're piloting with Health Accelerator partner practices across Aotearoa. Early access available for PHOs, GP networks, and pharma partners.

Request a demo Health Accelerator partnership
contact@wakaresearch.com