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The use of electronic prescription booklets has saved chronically ill patients over 1.3 million levs since the system went live on 1 July 2021. This is according to data from Information Services, which developed and administers the platform. To date, more than 260,000 fully electronic booklets have been issued. They have successfully replaced the paper equivalent, which used to be sold at an average price of around 5 levs.
"Apart from the money saved by chronically ill patients, who are among the most socially weak and vulnerable part of the population, the electronic prescription booklets have significantly reduced the service time for patients and the possibility of errors in prescribing and dispensing medicines," said Georgi Nedev, Head of Health Insurance Systems at Information Services. When using the electronic prescription booklet, people do not have to buy a paper one, take it to their GP for filling and then wait at the Regional Health Insurance Fund (RHIF) for validation. They also don't have to present it to the pharmacy network for dispensing the medicines they need, which greatly relieves them and saves time.
The electronic booklet is registered and completed only by the general practitioner, and access to the chronically ill patient’s information is strictly limited. Pharmacies are only able to check data on a specific prescription, for which they have to dispense medication paid for by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). All information between the general practitioner, the pharmacy and the regional health insurance funds is exchanged entirely electronically, which saves considerable time for all involved in the process. The system also updates information on the choice of GP without the patient having to certify the change by visiting the Regional Health Insurance Fund. New diagnoses can also be entered in the e-booklet and old ones can be written off.
Figures show that 2.3 million patients have been served electronically since the system's launch, and the platform has received and fulfilled more than 360 million electronic requests. Over 400,000 requests are fulfilled per day, with an average request processing time of less than 1 second. The module is effectively used by nearly 10 000 physicians and pharmacists who have a contract with the NHIF.