The photos of medical prescriptions to purchase medicines in pharmacies ceased to be valid after the National Ministry of Health, chaired by Carla Vizzotti, put an end to the measure in December 2022, which has been in force since April 2020 as a result of Preventive Isolation Social and Mandatory due to coronavirus at that time, where it was allowed to send photos of recipes by mail (or WhatsApp) so that people did not have to expose themselves to the respiratory virus, the use of the electronic prescription.
However, For people who live with chronic diseases, the removal of the measure will only take place on February 28. Until now, the Health portfolio allowed the use of recipe photos only in these specific cases. As of March 1, everyone who wants to purchase a medication can present only two types of prescriptions: the paper prescription with a stamp and the digital prescription with a certified signature (electronic prescription).
The first of these recipes is handcrafted by a doctor after the pertinent consultation, in a recipe book. The health professional writes the prescription in question, puts his name and registration number stamp on it and his handwritten signature. The prescription remains in the pharmacy when purchasing the medication. In the case of the electronic prescriptionconsists of a digital file that the doctor creates with an app, has a certified signature and a barcode and it is sent by virtual messaging to the pharmacist.
When Law 25,506 (Electronic Prescriptions Law) was enacted, it was ordered to create a national digital registry with the signatures of the country’s registered doctors and the computer systems so that prescriptions created digitally can only be used once. However, the Law has legal gaps and lacks regulations for its implementation, which each jurisdiction has the task of implementing.
The people of Buenos Aires will have an app for recipes
In the case of Buenos Aires, The provincial government of Axel Kicillof together with the Buenos Aires Minister of Health, Nicolás Kreplak presented a mobile app so that patients can have their prescriptions in digital format. The launch of this tool was held in the golden room of the Government House. Kicillof assures that the measure It will provide greater “safety, efficacy, performance, and simplicity.”
For his part, Kreplak said that “this program implies taking a decisive step in the integration of the health system of the province of Buenos Aires, since it includes both the public and private sectors, in order to improve and simplify the lives of our entire population.” The application was developed by the National University of the Center (UNICEN) and the Buenos Aires Medical and Pharmaceutical Colleges.
