The system that validates prepaid and obras sociales transactions has not been working since Thursday, which prevents the discounts from being applied to beneficiaries
By iProfessional
16/05/2023 – 08,58hs
And computer attack against a system of validation of the identity of beneficiaries of prepaid medicine companies and social works kept the sale of medicines paralyzed this Tuesday in a large part of Buenos Aires and its surroundings and other cities in Argentina.
Millions of users were prevented from buying in pharmacies with the discounts that correspond to their health services and the businesses choose between charging the full price with the possibility of a later reimbursement or granting the bonuses manually while waiting for the financiers to pay them.
An official statement from Bizland, the company that manages the IMED system for the firm Farmalink, confirmed the problems on Friday. Bizland reported that it was “victim of a hacking attempt that did not imply the theft of sensitive data from beneficiaries and providers, but did affect the operation of its communications network, for which reason there is an impossibility for on-line validation of consumption of Health”.
“The attack could not overcome the containment barriers for this type of intrusions that the company has, but it did came to impact on the communication servers Therefore, the possibility of validation from pharmacies and health providers is being affected,” he added.
The problem has resulted in a whole series of complications for patients who go to pharmacies to buy their prescription drugs. “Without these systems we re-identify the patient with a credential plus DNI. Until that is gone, it is impossible to do it any other way,” he told Infobae Miguel Angel Lombardopresident of the Argentine Federation of Chambers of Pharmacies (Facaf).
“It is a problem beyond our control that forces us to manually identify each patient and the conditions of their coverage, which generates all kinds of disorders and slows down attention. What we are recommending is to make the expenses with the corresponding discount, but we are asking the financiers (prepaid and obras sociales) to pay what was sold without qualms, given the situation,” added the pharmacist.
The computer problem affects the medicine trade.
When will the sale of medicines in pharmacies be normalized?
Asked about reports of pharmacies refusing to sell at a discount given the impossibility of ensuring payment by financiers, Lombardo said that most of the Federation’s pharmacies are selling under normal conditions, although it is to be expected that some will refuse. to do it and specify sales only cash on delivery.
He too College of Pharmacists of La Plata alerted users to the situation. “Since yesterday morning (in reference to Thursday) the system that allows authorizing (validating data) an important sector of social works and prepaid has not worked. The problem is general and unrelated to pharmacies,” they clarified.
“As a result of the tasks that were carried out over the weekend, the applications, environments and databases of the services provided for Farmalink and through it to IOMA, Apross, Apos, prepaid medicine companies and pharmacies. At this time, efforts are focused on the process of reconfiguring and assembling both hardware and software infrastructure to return to processing services normally,” said a new statement from Bizland released on Monday. “These tasks will require another 24 hours. and the services will be fully available as of Tuesday, May 16,” he added.
