Electronic prescription “can generate problems”

Electronic tools of monitoring the medical evolution of insurants and of drug prescriptions, as well as important modifications regarding the health insurance system are parts of the health system.

Problems within the informatics system, but also a slower adaptation of some doctors could represent the obstacles in the way of simplifying this process of prescription, acquisition and checking the free and compensated drugs flow.

The president of the Employers Federation of Family Doctors, Doctor Doina Mihăilă, states that family doctors support the introduction of electronic prescription and of health card, things which represented in the past reasons of dissatisfaction and refusal regarding the signing of the frame-contract with the House.

This time, doctors request only a period of adjustment and suggest that those who will adapt immediately at changes could receive certain stimulants.

The president of the National Health Insurance House (CNAS), Lucian Duţă, sustains that in this moment, the informatics system is optimally functioning.

“Through the improvements brought in the last year, we can say now that the Unique Integrated Informatics System (UIIS) is fulfilling its functions with success”, declared Lucian Duţă.

The Unique Integrated Informatics System (UIIS) manages on paper a budget of 5 billion Euros, which serves 20 million citizens, 50,000 services providers and almost 0,5 billion operations per year.

“UIIS is the base, but we have new elements to introduce and I refer here firstly to the electronic prescription and the health card, in 2012, and the electronic file in 2013.”

“We received non reimbursable of 40 million Euros. So, we speak today about a complex integrated platform”, added Lucian Duţă.

The electronic tools of monitoring the medical evolution of insurants and of drug prescriptions are part of the reform of sanitary system that both the authorities and the representatives of some important international institutions talk about as being an immediat necessity.
The base package, “announced on time”

A new health draft law would follow to be presented at the beginning of July by the committee especially constituted within the ministry, with important modifications regarding the health insurances system.

Modifications have already been proposed regarding the so-called “base package”, which means the amount of the services assured by the state.

“The services package modification has to be done on time, because if we announce from day to day that a certain service cannot be sustained anymore or that it is not sustained anymore from the base package, we will create a dissatisfaction state among the population, because they would not be ready.

“But, if we draw attention that within a year we will no longer support the treatment for expectoration cough, during this time you have two possibilities: either you don’t care about it, or say: Look, I often get a cold, the drugs might be very expensive and I will supplementary assure, I will make a private insurance for this”, declared the state secretary Vasile Cepoi.

The Health Minister wants changes regarding the mechanism of according the financing within the primary medicine, in hospitalization periods, but also in the lists with free or compensated drugs.

“We insure for the cases of expectoration coughs, for which we have spent last year 20 million Euros or we insure for cardio-vascular diseases, for chronic pulmonary diseases, for digestive diseases and hematologic diseases, any other disease whose costs mean a financial effort that I could not support, because everybody can support an expectorant, we make an exception from the people who is socially protected and that will be further socially protected”, added the state secretary Vasile Cepoi.

Compulsory insurances “for diseases with vital risk”

Every person could insure where he wants, both at public and at private, but the insurances for basic medical services will remain compulsory because exists constitutionally the obligation of state to guarantee the health access.

So, the basic services package will have to include the risk coverage for diseases with vital risk or with high potential of affecting the people’s healthy state.

“The insurance obligation cannot disappear, because then would mean that someone to declare that if he arrived into a critical situation, he would not have any pretention, therefore to die, or this thing is not possible”, declared Vasile Cepoi.

The difference would consist in the fact that every person will have the possibility to insure in private, for the base package and/or for the supplementary package, and in public for the base package.

If a person will want to change the provider, this will be possible with an agreement made before from the insurer, which means a supplementary payment.

The state will perceive for the basic package the same tax that perceives now, only this time it will go where the patient is insured, in private or in public.

Over it, the patient could contract even a supplementary package or a complementary one of services.

Tags: the National House of Health Insurance (CNAS), electronic prescription, insurances, doctors, reforms

Translated by Alexandra-Diana Mircea
MTTLC, Bucharest University