“The e-prescription shows that we are a step ahead in the digitalization of social security, even in international comparison,” said Lehner. After the e-card 2005, Elga 2015 and the e-vaccination card 2020, the e-prescription is the next big step.
“With the introduction of electronic prescriptions, paper prescriptions will be replaced and the entire prescription process, from issuing and redeeming to invoicing, will be digitized,” says Lehner. This eliminates much of the administrative effort. In the future, doctors will create the electronic prescription and save it in the electronic card system. Patients can redeem the prescription using a QR code on the smartphone app or a 12-digit code. Collection by third parties is also possible if the QR code is passed on. As each prescription is valid only once and QR codes are difficult to forge, electronic prescription is also safer. A doctor-printed prescription will continue to be available. Electronic prescribing also offers the option of contactless prescribing.
The costs of electronic prescription amount to 2.4 million euros for the development and another 4 million euros for the implementation of the software in offices and pharmacies.
The next step is for electronic prescribing to be recognized across national borders. “We would like to integrate private prescriptions into the e-prescribing system as a service for our policyholders and enable international prescriptions within the EU in the future,” said Lehner. He can’t say when it will actually be, “ideally by the end of next year.”
In terms of data security, Lehner is not concerned, as the electronic prescription is stored within the closed network of health information. This gives clinicians the opportunity to view other prescriptions for a patient and thus avoid potential interactions.
In Austria, around 60 million prescriptions are issued every year, 7.7 million of them as electronic prescriptions in the first half of 2022. “For the insured, this means: no more paperwork and nothing to be lost, different options for redeem a recipe or redeem it, an overview of all e-recipes, and the daily determination of revenue rates paid,” Lehner said enthusiastically.