Starting from April 1, prescription drugs in Ukraine will be available in pharmacies with an electronic prescription. This new system will give patients the choice to purchase medicines using either electronic or paper prescriptions. E-recipes will apply to all registered medicines in Ukraine that are subject to prescription and purchased at the patient’s expense.
Convenient and Accessible
Patients will be able to obtain an electronic recipe remotely by contacting their family doctor via an accessible means of communication. Is is more convenient for patients who have an acute or chronic illness or who need to continue treatment or prevention. Once the diagnosis and prescription are recorded by the doctor, the prescriptions will be available on smartphone. If a patient or their loved one doesn’t have a mobile phone, the doctor can prescribe a paper prescription form.
To obtain a prescription, patients will need to make an appointment with their doctor. During the examination, the doctor will register the patient in the electronic healthcare system (EHR) and generate a prescription, which includes the active substance, dosage, duration of the course, and instructions for use. After that, the patient will receive an SMS message with the number of the electronic prescription and a unique code.
Finding a pharmacy that dispenses electronic prescriptions will be simple, as patients can use a special information about address of the nearest pharmacy. Patients just need to enter or select the name of their locality from the list in the search bar.
Variety and Affordability
Patient will be able to purchase medicines by electronic prescription at a pharmacy within 10 days if they are psychotropic medicines, or within 30 days for other prescription medicines.
The Ministry of Health will not expand or change the list of prescription drugs. This means that all the medicines that were previously subject to a doctor’s prescription can now be purchased via e-prescription. Prescriptions can be issued by doctors of all specialties in state, municipal or private clinics, as well as by private practitioners.
The new electronic prescription system will not only provide convenience for patients but will also offer increased accessibility and affordability for prescription medications. The electronic system will also streamline the process for doctors, reducing the need for paperwork and making it easier for them to track their patients’ medication histories. Move to electronic recipes is an important step towards modernizing healthcare system of Ukraine.
