SLK: Legislative Changes to E-prescribing Are Step Backwards

Bratislava, January 2 (TASR) - The legislative changes to e-prescribing are a step backwards in the digitisation of health care, the Slovak Medical Chamber (SLK) stated on its website, expressing a firm hope that the Health Ministry will succeed in returning e-prescribing to its original legislative form as soon as possible. "For doctors, who welcomed e-prescription as a help and simplification in administrative work, it means higher workload, for patients unnecessary visits in outpatient departments," said SLK, noting that fully reimbursable medicines account for about 15-20 percent of all prescriptions. Patients are now expected to go in person for these medicines. In January, an amendment to the National Health-care Information System Act came into force. The possibility of issuing e-prescriptions for some medicines has been scrapped. This is the case, for example, for medicines fully reimbursed by the patient. The Health Ministry explained that, in view of the technical-legislative necessity of the modification, it was necessary to respect European Union law on the protection of personal data in relation to the electronic prescription service (ePrescription). It declared that it was addressing the situation in order to reduce the impact on the public as soon as possible. am/mcs