"Nationalized" digital recipe, Federfarma writes to the Ministries

Pharmacies need "operating guidelines" that clarify the methods and procedures for sending paper memos. The decree requires that any co-payments or exemptions in force in the region from which the patient comes from are applied to the shipment, not those in the region in which the pharmacy operates. The Sac (Central Reception System) still does not allow pharmacies to send paper reminders from other regions.

PTo apply the decree which extends the validity of the dematerialized prescription to the whole national territory, pharmacies need "operating indications" which clarify the methods and procedures with which to send paper memos. This is what Federfarma writes in a note sent yesterday to the Ministries of Health and the Economy after the entry into force, from 1 January, of the Dpcm November 14, 2015, published in the Official Gazette of 31 December. The provision, signed in mid-November by the two departments after the go-ahead from the Regions, allows patients to present their digital prescription in any Italian pharmacy, even in a region other than their one of residence .

The resulting simplification is certainly relevant, but the decree requires that any co-payments or exemptions in force in the region from which the patient comes from, not those in the region in which the pharmacy operates, be applied to the shipment. To help pharmacists, the dpcm entrusted Sogei with the task of integrating the data on tickets and exemptions in force in the various regions into the TS System, but this intervention will only be completed in a month.

To complicate matters, there is also the fact that the Sac (Central Reception System) still does not allow pharmacies to send paper reminders from other regions. Hence the note from Federfarma, which asks the Ministries how the owners should behave in applying the decree: the memorandum, in particular the hypothesis raised by the Federation, could be "processed" like a traditional red recipe (as is already possible to do in case of disruption on the Network) until the platform allows "extra-regional" shipping.

And as regards co-payments and exemptions, pharmacies could apply the conditions in force in their region (as contemplated by the Prime Ministerial Decree again in the event of malfunctions) until Sogei has integrated the System. In both cases, Federfarma admits in the communication, however, it would be a matter of applying "emergency" methods in an extended sense which the rules limit to other cases (blackouts and offline).

Consequently, the Federation's request to the Ministries is to confirm the solutions proposed by the union in order to ensure the application of the decree in any case. Without prejudice to the possibility that, in this first phase, those assisted on "away trips" could be refused exemptions recognized by their region. For the same reasons, in a circular released yesterday, Federfarma recommended that its regional Unions contact their respective health departments with the aim of informing and receiving adequate assurances on the payment of "extra-territorial" prescriptions. (AS)

Related news: Since January, group A drugs have also been purchased outside the Region

From today the "digital bugi@rdino" arrives at the pharmacy

DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, 14 NOVEMBER 2015