E-prescription in Poland - a preliminary report

Aim. Aim of the paper: to introduce the subject of e-prescription in Poland. E-prescription is a digital version of the previously used standard paper prescription. In Poland,professional arrangements were made, thanks to which it became possible to promotee-prescriptions in pharmacies and doctors’ surgeries throughout the country.Methods. The authors analyse how e-prescription is introduced in Poland. We appliedcomparative analysis (of eprescining in the European Union countries) , literature review(what are legal and technical constraints) and case study (how it was introduced in Poland).We showed the implementation of the e-Health (P1) system in Poland and describedthe use of the free application of the Ministry of Health. We presented preparations for theimplementation of digital health services by the Center for Health Information Systems(CSIOZ).Results and conclusion. For years in Poland, handwritten prescriptions used to be thepreferred method of communication for doctors when making decisions about therapywith medications and for pharmacists to distribute them. Nonetheless, over the last decade,interest in the subject of e-prescription, alongside other e-health solutions for processinghealth-related data, has increased. E-prescription is fi lled on the basis of a four-digit code,which we receive by text message sent to a given phone number or by email to an indicatedaddress. Alternatively, there is a possibility to obtain an information printout, dependingon the confi guration of our Patient Account. An important change introduced is that wedo not have to physically carry the printed prescription with us anymore. E-prescriptionprovides benefi ts for doctors, patients and pharmacists, such as: convenience, time saving,greater safety of the therapy, less risk of error, less bureaucracy. The main objectives of thee-prescribing system involve facilitation of the process of prescriptions delivery, reductionof errors, time optimisation for doctors and pharmacists and eliminating the problem ofillegible and fake prescriptions, which have so far been a common occurrence.Cognitive value. This article shows the process of introducing E-prescription in Poland.