The German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) is making e-prescription mandatory as of July 1, 2021, and has commissioned gematik to provide the necessary infrastructure. This includes the gematik e-prescription app and the specialist service.
Initially, however, the e-prescription will be launched as a test phase in the Berlin/Brandenburg model region, bringing 120 registered pharmacies and three large mail-order companies on board, including the Dutch major mail-order pharmacies DocMorris and Shop Apotheke. In addition, the Apologistics Group, a German digital pharmacy from Leipzig that now has nine mail-order portals, including apodiscounter.de, will also be on board.
Next year, a complete expansion of e-prescribing for all of Germany is planned, but with the patient still choosing which pharmacy should supply the drugs. Dispatchers from the Netherlands could fail due to the telematics infrastructure (TI) in Germany, as the technical connection is a prerequisite for a smooth process. In addition, technical problems and issues in marketing and communications could jeopardize e-prescription processing. However, some experts believe. A gematik spokeswoman explains, however, that Rx dispatch is also possible from the Netherlands.
Only the new CEO Dr. Oliver Scheel (formerly of Beiersdorf), who replaced founder and pharmacist Helmut Fritsch, knows exactly how Apologistics will manage this with shipping portals in Germany, a new automated prescription recognition system in the Netherlands. Merchandise management and billing, and patient recruitment remain Scheel’s secret for the time being. Only 50 medical practices are involved, and not all patients of the participating physicians are either, so Apologistics will probably compete for patients with e-prescriptions.
Only fractions of patients will also be able to use the gematik app at the start of the model project. Nevertheless, according to Scheel, who generates sales of 200 million euros and whose corporate fortunes are steered by investors (two-thirds majority held by „THI“), predicts a fivefold increase in all mail-order companies‘ market share e-prescriptions. Currently, Apologistics‘ Rx share is small, despite 1.8 million users. Ultimately, however, Apologistics still has to wait for a legal decree from the BMG to solve the interface problem.
Source: www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de