14 Jun 5 scenarios without approval of private prescription where telemedicine is unsafe and illegal
These days that so much has been written about telemedicine, remote assistance, digital patient or as we want to give the same name that is the medical act to a patient using the current video-chat-remote assistance commodity mechanisms, I would like to underline the importance that these actions are executed within a secure framework, both legal and technological, that ensure confidentiality and privacy of the information we share between doctor and patient, availability of systems when they need to be used, integrity of prescriptions or prescriptions, traceability of actions that the doctor has realized as well as identity that the doctor and patient is who he is. In the private sphere, there is the approval of a private medical prescription that all software that allows the aforementioned actions to be carried out must comply and that, as the leading auditor in Spain in this matter, I want to make a summary that describes how important it is to comply with these issues.
5 scenarios without approval of private prescription where telemedicine is unsafe and illegal
There are multiple scenarios where not using an approved tool in digital medical care opens the door to many risky situations. I am going to describe 5 of them that I think can give a general idea of the problem.
Scenario 1. Telemedicine by Whatsapp, Zoom, Skype, telephone, etc.
Suppose that I am treated by any of the above tools, by a person who claims to be my doctor, sometimes he probably does not see his face, as we ensure that this doctor is enabled, as we ensure that what he prescribes is in accordance with my allergies, contraindications, control the dosage of narcotic drugs or is it simply kept in my medical history? Absolutely impossible, what’s more, how do we ensure the privacy of my conversation? How do we ensure data protection? Let’s understand that although as a very urgent doctor she solves the tip of the iceberg of the problem, she does not meet most of the issues that at least I as a patient would like to have controlled.
The electronic private medical prescription approval ensures that the prescriptions are based on certain databases of medications, with medical protocols, prescription control, doses, units, duration, etc. self-calculated, allergy control, patient privacy record, compliance with data protection, etc.
Scenario 2. Where is my prescription, where has it been stored, how can I request it again? Is it more like I know that my doctor actually signs it? How can I consult it months later if I have changed my smartphone, computer, etc? How to show that you prescribed more doses than recommended or that you did not take into account other medications in progress? How do we know that the duration of the treatment was 3 weeks if I remember perfectly what 4 told me? In short, where is my prescription with legal value so that I can exercise my rights as a patient and citizen? We see that things get complicated.
The homologation of a private medical prescription obliges to keep the digitally signed prescriptions associated with the patient, unalterable in time and recoverable whenever specific years are necessary.
Scenario 3. Who attended me a year ago?
Suppose I am treated today using one of the many services that prevail on the Internet without the approval of an electronic private medical prescription and within a year, I do not remember what the application was called, how will I remember what doctor prescribed me? If I do not have anything on paper, physical, everything was virtual, how can I recover or demonstrate that someone, somewhere in the world, told me to take a medication?
One of the issues that guarantees to use an approved software is the identity of the patient and that the doctor is qualified for the prescription.
Scenario 4. How can I get the medicine from the pharmacy?
If I have been served online, how do I request my prescription at my usual pharmacy? How can I present a valid recipe? How does the pharmacy know that the doctor was registered and authorized for the function? How do I know that I have not ordered more containers than the doctor has included in the digital prescription? How does the pharmacist speak in the case of a problem with the doctor?
The approval of electronic private medical prescription interconnects with pharmacies through Nodofarma allowing the dispensing of medications, cancellation of it, pharmaceutical-medical conversation, control of the number of packages delivered, control of the high privacy of prescriptions with a high level of confidentiality , etc
Scenario 5. My illnesses have been published without my consent
How safe are the computer systems of the doctor who has treated me? Are they protecting my confidential information from cyberattacks? How do I know that even my recipe history is not accessed by third parties without my consent?
The private prescription approval includes dozens of measures aligned in some cases with ISO27001 and ISO27017 to reduce the risk of malicious cybersecurity attacks that may occur, prevent access by unauthorized third parties and other information security measures that increase the level of security of patient information.
Conclusion
In short, the approval of electronic private medical prescription computer solutions is key to the safe operation between doctor-patient-pharmacist, ensuring a legal framework for any type of problem that may arise, ensuring privacy, data protection, confidentiality, availability and inalterability. of the recipe, among many other advantages.
Luis Vilanova Blanco. First electronic private medical prescription auditor in Spain.
recipemedica@luisvilanova.es
606954593