According to media reports, the National Health Commission recently released three documents, namely, the Administrative Measures for Internet Diagnosis and Treatment (Trial), the Administrative Measures for Internet Hospitals (Trial), and the Management Standards for Telemedical Services (Trial), in which there is a more explicit statement about online prescription issuance. Doctors are grasping patients' medical records, After confirming that the patient has been definitely diagnosed as one or several common diseases or chronic diseases in the physical medical institution, the prescription can be issued online for the diseases with the same diagnosis. In the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Development of "Internet+Medical Health" issued in April this year, it is clear that medical institutions and drug trading enterprises can entrust qualified third-party organizations to deliver online prescriptions after they are reviewed by pharmacists.
In the view of some insiders, this is good news that online prescription drugs are expected to be released. For many patients suffering from chronic diseases who need to take prescription drugs for a long time, if they prescribe drugs in the outpatient department of the hospital, it is a necessary process to queue up to register and take the drugs. Moreover, the amount of drugs prescribed each time is small. If they want to keep taking the drugs, they have to run to the hospital every three days. In response to this pain point of patients, some Internet medicine platforms and e-commerce launched online drug shopping, which is not only convenient, but also often has a price advantage over ordinary pharmacies.
Prescription drugs have certain particularity compared with other ordinary drugs. If consumers buy and use them at will, drug safety is difficult to ensure. Therefore, for a long time, whether at the policy level or in the specific implementation, online selling of prescription drugs has been in an awkward situation. How to find the balance between satisfying the needs of patients and ensuring the safety of medication has become a topic for decision makers.
If online prescription drugs are allowed, it will greatly facilitate patients and promote the gradual improvement of the Internet medical chain and system. It can be predicted that it will pose more severe challenges to the technical specifications, supervision and supervision related to online prescription drugs. Relevant parties did not give up eating and retreat from difficulties because of choking, but gradually explored the realization path of online prescription drugs in principle and step by step, which is worthy of recognition.
Registration, medical treatment, examination, prescription, treatment... Whether each link can be smoothly and orderly on the way of people's medical treatment directly affects the medical experience. From reducing the import tariff of related drugs, promoting the national negotiations on the access of anti-cancer drugs to medical insurance, to breaking down the policy of relying on drugs to support doctors in many places, cracking down on hospital vendors, implementing multi-channel registration, and to selling prescription drugs online, it is expected that these efforts are all important links to get through the obstacles of people's medical access in reality.
To promote the implementation of online purchase prescription drugs, such as the access of sales entities, drug quality control, distribution precautions, risk prevention and control, and crisis management plans, should be clarified as soon as possible. At present, the Measures for the Supervision and Management of Online Drug Sales is still in the process of soliciting opinions, and it is expected that targeted and operational management measures in this field will be formed eventually, so that people can use drugs conveniently and safely.