A few months ago, our Ministry of He alth promised a queue package - the introduction of solutions that will shorten the queues of patients waiting to see specialist doctors. Some time ago, changes came into force regarding the way of writing out and filling prescriptions. What has changed?
The queue package also includedrules for issuing and filling prescriptions . One of the most important goals of the amended regulation on medical prescriptions, announced in October 2014, was to reduce queues to doctors. The key change is to increase the amount of medicine your doctor can prescribe per prescription. Until now, it could contain medicines sufficient for 90 days of therapy. The pharmacist calculated this period based on the dosage and the number of packages. If they showed that the prescription contained an amount of medicine sufficient for more than 90 days of treatment, the pharmacist reduced the number of packages dispensed. Since October last year, doctors can prescribe the patient on one prescription an amount of the drug sufficient for 120 days of therapy. This change is intended to make patients who regularly and chronically use the same drugs less frequent visits to their doctor.
You can get up to 12 prescriptions
For patients who cannot afford to buy medication for 120 days of therapy at one time, a different solution is provided for in the new regulation. Well, the doctor can give them up to 12 prescriptions for a total of 360 days of treatment. This means that they will not have to visit the doctor again for almost a year. And they will visit the pharmacy every month to buy the amount of the drug for the next 30 days. This will be possible thanks to this package of 12 prescriptions - each with an exact date of delivery. The changes also apply to the number of prescription drugs that a doctor may prescribe on one prescription from October. Until now, there was a rule that allowed the administration of only one lump-sum dose of such a drug (e.g. 100 g of ointment, 10 g of eye drops, 20 divided powders, 12 suppositories, 250 g of potions, etc.). Often, such amounts of prescription drugs were not sufficient for effective therapy and patients had to consult a doctor for a new prescription for another dose of the same drug. Currently, the doctor can place twice the amount of the prescription drug on the prescription, and for ointments, creams, liniments, pastes and gels - eventen times the quantity.
Changes in prescribing narcotic and psychotropic drugs
On the other hand, since September, the regulations on prescribing narcotic and psychotropic drugs have also changed. They are regulated by the regulation on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, category 1 precursors and preparations containing these drugs or substances. Until now, a special prescription could contain enough drugs of this type for 30 days of use. Currently, the doctor can write them out for up to 90 days of treatment. The shelf life of such prescriptions has also changed from 14 days to 30 days. Finally, several formal issues regarding prescribing this type of drugs were finally resolved, which often resulted in errors that made it impossible to buy them in pharmacies. For example, the doctor no longer has to write in words the total amount of the drug substance prescribed to the patient - now all you need is the sum of tablets expressed in numbers. In addition, until now, when consciously exceeding the maximum doses of the drug, the doctor had to confirm this fact with his stamp, signature and an exclamation mark. Now this is no longer required. These two minor changes will make it possible to avoid refusing to fill a prescription for a narcotic drug when the pharmacist determines that the doctor has not complied with the formal requirements for such prescriptions.
Will changes in prescription method reduce queues for specialists? Time will tell. So far, pharmacists have not noticed much interest among doctors in using the new powers. The medics themselves have a lot of doubts about such long periods of lack of control over the condition of patients. And the Ministry of He alth is preparing further changes: in 2016, nurses will also be able to prescribe certain medications.
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