The law that temporarily allowed general practitioners to send prescriptions to patients via email will expire on December 31st.
The government is preparing to retire electronic prescriptions. The law that had temporarily allowed general practitioners and specialists to send prescriptions to patients via email or SMS will expire on December 31st and the Budget Law does not provide for any extension.
A Christmas present, so to speak, which was not appreciated by the family doctors ‘ trade associations . So the appeal has already started for an extension to arrive in the hope of saving a tool highly appreciated by both doctors and patients – trivially because it works, it is extremely convenient and dematerialized useless paperwork (which never hurts).
We have consulted the minister’s secretariat and we expect a positive response on a possible extension
said the president of Fnomceo, Filippo Anelli.
We know that the issue is on the table and we are sure that the minister will show his attention to the matter
Silvestro Scotti, national secretary of general practitioners (Fimmg), also echoes him.
The dematerialized prescription, with no obligation to go to the general practitioner to also collect the paper memo, was provided for by an extraordinary regulation approved during the Covid-19, when it was important to prevent medical offices from being overrun by patients who had no urgently need a visit. The standard survived even after the most acute phase of the pandemic emergency. Neither the doctors nor the patients missed the previous regimen.
The news of the possible death of the electronic prescription – as it is currently regulated – comes in the same hours in which several members of the government have begun to share the hypothesis of “pulling the plug” on SPID, another tool (after initial mistrust) much appreciated by the Italians. The oppositions are now accusing the government of taking unforgivable steps backwards on the digital and simplification front.
