Moscow authorities have taken the decision to arrange subsidized medicines supply in commercial pharmacies to citizens with electronic prescriptions from medical organizations; the project starts on January 15, 2022. This was reported in the press service of the Mayor and the city government. The corresponding decree was signed by Sergei Sobyanin, the Mayor of the capital.
The project will last until December 31, 2022. The participants of the project are going to be pharmacies that have joined the Unified Medical Information and Analytical System (EMIAS) and have committed to provide medicines to persons entitled to subsidized drugs based on prescriptions for an international nonproprietary name (INN), on the day of the request. To receive the drug, it is necessary to present the QR code of the electronic prescription (in electronic or paper form).
Pharmacies participating in the project will receive monthly budget subsidies in the amount of the cost of the drugs actually provided to the entitled persons.
This project will expand the opportunities of beneficiaries to receive free medicines, and the involvement of commercial pharmacies in the experiment should cut down the costs for the city budget and the resources of the healthcare system required for centralized drug procurement.
The provision of subsidized medicines will also continue in pharmacies of the city’s polyclinics.
According to Anastasia Rakova, the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Social Development, the program covers most in-demand medicines that are supplied free of charge under a prescription. Patients are guaranteed the supply of a drug with an active substance that is indicated in the prescription. In addition, it will be possible to pay extra and get the same INN produced by another manufacturer, subject to the preference of the beneficiary.
As Rakova stressed, the delivery of the prescription drugs for which online sale is allowed may also be arranged via commercial pharmacies.