site.btaPharmacists Want Fully Electronic Prescriptions to Be Postponed

Pharmacists want to keep in place the hybrid model for e-prescriptions and paper prescriptions and call for a delay of the new rules from April 1. The position was debated at a spring Building Bridges Together conference, organizers ofthe Master Pharmacists Initiative Committee said.

Master pharmacists, pharmacy owners, physicians and representatives of institutions from across the country participated in the event. They discussed key challenges facing the system, from eHealth and access to medicines, to the future of family pharmacies and new therapies.

Adelina Liubenova, chair of the Master Pharmacists' Initiative Committee, said the idea of fully electronic prescriptions coming into effect on April 1 was premature.

“We have real problems with communication between systems and this directly affects patient service. We believe that the hybrid model is a workable mechanism that will ensure that we do not turn patients away,” said Adelina Liubenova.

Pharmacists believe that the lack of technical readiness and alignment between systems can lead to chaos and returned patients.

With regard to free medicines for children, pharmacies support the measure but insist on clarity on the funding mechanism. 

The industry points out that the key element of eHealth - a single nomenclature is missing. 

The discussions were also attended by Dr. Ivan Madzharov - Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Medical Association, and Prof. Dr. Georgi Momekov - Chairman of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Science Society, who also stressed the need to synchronize the healthcare system with the real needs of patients and medical professionals.

The Chairman of the Health Committee in the Parliament Prof. Dr. Kostadin Angelov said that he supports the efforts to build better communication between all participants in the system - doctors, pharmacists, institutions. Working policies based on dialogue, transparency and assessment of the real effects on patients are needed, he said, quoted in the release. 

A few days ago, the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union expressed a strong opinion against the provision of medicines to small settlements through mobile pharmacies. The better option is to provide transport for those living in small or remote settlements to a municipal centre where there is a pharmacy, said master pharmacist Dimitar Marinov, chairman of the union, during a discussion on access to medicines.