Digital Prescriptions Are Coming

It is expected that a new platform for medical care, digital prescriptions, will be formalized in 2024; however, Mexico still has pending issues to guarantee a smooth transition. Digital prescriptions are one more element in the technological transformation of health services.

Statistics tell us that more than half of medical prescriptions are illegible or very difficult to understand. This is something we see every day in the more than 40,000 private network pharmacies throughout the country. In addition, it has been proven that less than 20% of patients retain the verbal information  provided by their doctor during consultations.

This has not been an obstacle for patients to receive the correct medicines when ordering them at the pharmacy, where employees, based on years of practice, have become seasoned in understanding the prescriptions from doctors. As I previously mentioned in an interview with Expansión de Mayo Magazine, there is a skill that we have developed at the pharmacy counter to read prescriptions. 

At Anafarmex A.C., we offer certification processes for pharmacy dispensers established in labor competency standards, a model imported from Europe and which is already a reality in Mexico. At first, this training was face-to-face but today it can be carried out remotely, authorized and recognized by official institutions, such as COFEPRIS, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Public Education as well as opinion leaders from the health sector.

In addition to this, those dispensing drugs at the pharmacies speak by phone to the doctors, from whom they would have normally received other prescriptions, to clear up any doubts.

The Arrival of Digital Prescriptions

The ugly handwriting of doctors is not exactly the cause of the recent push for digital prescriptions, but rather the advancement of technology, the increase in teleconsultations as a result of the pandemic, and the desire to have better control over a patient’s clinical history.  There has also been growth in teleconsultations by psychiatrists due to the high levels of stress and anxiety in our society. Hence, the Health Commission of the Chamber of Deputies has authorized an initiative to promote the use of electronic medical prescriptions to improve the operation of health systems in Mexico. It will enter into force from Jan. 1, 2024, and legislators agree on the responsibility of training the employees involved and providing more digital tools to the medical units of the National Health System.

The date is drawing near and time is running out to refine the conditions of the public health system which, unlike those of us in private sector pharmacies, has not yet adapted to the era of digital tools, an area where we are undoubtedly more advanced.

Pharmacies Ready for Transformation

For our neighbors to the North, the digital consultation has benefited patients in terms of out-of-pocket costs, making it more accessible economically for the population. This is one of the reasons for its great growth. In our country, thanks to the support of clinics attached to pharmacies, where people are treated at modest costs, the use of this technology has not yet been decisive.

We are already prepared for the change in the ecosystem of offices attached to pharmacies, of which there are more than 18,000 in the country, where we are generating more than 10 million consultations per month. Our patients pay just MX$25 or MX$50 (US$1.40 or US $2.80) per consultation and do not necessarily have the opportunity to have a laptop, a smartphone or internet at home, so we estimate that the migration to digital mode will be a slow process

Pharmacies are forced to adapt to market demands, so we currently work with a combined system: physical and digital, as requested by customers. The progress of electronic prescriptions could also be obstructed not because  of economics, but because of the generation gap. At asesoriaenfarmacias.com, we offer strategic solutions for pharmacies in this regard.

In most pharmacies, we have the possibility of incorporating new technologies, but the matter does not fall so much on us, but on the patients. For example, people with chronic degenerative diseases, usually over the age of 60, are not natives of the digital age, so it could be difficult for them to learn to download applications or other elements associated with digital prescriptions.

Migration to the digital world has to be operated gradually with the aim of providing better care to the population.

Regarding information issues, today there is no unified information system for patients in the country's health systems. This is another issue to solve as well as guaranteeing the security and confidentiality of that data.

“Some words were taken from my interview in Expansion Magazine, May Edition.”

MBA Marcos Camilo Pascual Cruz

CEO at asesoriaenfarmacias.com