On November 1, a new online platform for validating PAMI recipes began to operate (Illustrative Image Infobae)
Since last Friday, a new online validator for recipes of the members of the National Institute of Social Services for Retirees and Pensioners (PAMI)which implied in a few hours difficulties in the dispensation and sale of medicines in many pharmacies in the country.
In principle, the entities that group the pharmacists they complained that the new online medication validation system did not recognize the new prescriptions or did not include those prior to November 1date on which the new resolution of the Ministry of Health of the Nation began to be implemented. But in the last few hours, different actors in the sector told Infobae what The situation would have begun to normalize.
Claudio Ucchino, vice president of Official College of Pharmacists and Biochemists of the Federal Capital (COFyBCF). explained to Infobae that the problem with the new platform started last week, but that little by little it is becoming normal and retirees are being able to get the drugs they need.
“There was a change in the PAMI validation systems, from one company to another, which already worked with the same organization. Now everything returned to (the company) Farmalink, which had been validating other social and prepaid works, but when PAMI was added on Friday, the system was overwhelmed. A funnel occurred that caused the system to collapse. The first days they could not be validated and, therefore, pharmacies could not dispense medications,” Ucchino said. And he added that by loading the member’s data and the prescription, the system, which supplies more than 14,000 pharmacies throughout the national territory, provides the correct information to deliver the drugs.
“As the days went by, the difficulties that mainly affected the large urban centers of the country. There were many complaints at various points, just like in CABA. But although I am not a computer engineer to corroborate it, I believe that at the end of this week the entire normalization of the system would be resolved,” Ucchino considered.
Different pharmaceutical associations in the country warned of the problems in acquiring medicines by PAMI members after the system change (Illustrative Image Infobae)
Given the situation that unfolded last Friday, the social work for retirees issued a statement in which he explained: “In maintenance tasks, PAMI is updating its electronic prescription validation system. If someone went to the pharmacy and their prescription was not yet filled or had problems dispensing the medications, they should not worry, because The problem will be resolved throughout the day”.
“All PAMI members are guaranteed access to their medications. We regret the inconvenience caused and appreciate the understanding of the members,” the entity stated.
In response to the query of Infobae, sources of AMONG They clarified that the system implemented is not new, but is the one that was used until 2015 and “it is the one used by almost the entire industry, which makes the pharmacist’s work easier.” And they added that this new platform allows PAMI to access “information that it did not have access to with the previous system, such as traceability of medicines from end to end.”
On Friday, the pharmaceutical chambers reported the inconveniences in many of the 14,000 pharmacies in which the new system was implemented. This implies that some retirees were not able to obtain medication in the first days of the month, in addition to the fact that these are drugs that, outside of coverage, are very expensive to purchase individually.
There are still problems in some businesses in the validation system that pharmacies use to process orders from the largest social work in the country (Freepik)
But little by little it begins to normalize: “Since this morning the system is working much better“, they stated today to Infobae sources from the Argentine Pharmaceutical Confederation (CLICK), one of the three pharmaceutical chambers together with the Argentine Federation of Chambers of Pharmacies (FACAF) and the Pharmaceutical Federation (FEFARA) that had warned, through a joint statement, of the situation.
And they added that “the change in the way prescriptions are validated does not affect the conditions of the benefit, nor the coverage, nor the plans, nor the formularies, nor the closing and presentation schedules, nor the payment terms.” Today FACAF confirmed to Infobae that problems still persisted for retirees in several businesses.
Meanwhile, Farmalinkthe new supplier chosen by the Nation explained in a recent statement: “As of last November 1, the change was made to the online validation system of the PAMI agreement. This implementation has reached more than 14,000 pharmacies throughout the country and is validating the prescription and dispensing of medications to members of the institute since last Friday. We are aware that, as in any massive implementation, various challenges arise and will arise so that all pharmacy management systems and nodes of pharmaceutical entities adapt to the new modality. In that sense, in recent days there has been an abnormal number of queries for electronic prescriptions, the origin of which we are investigating and which has impacted the speed of the service,” they stated.
And they added: “During yesterday afternoon and today morning, the process of validating and dispensing medicines under the PAMI agreement was gradually normalized. although we still register a lower speed of access to electronic prescription consultation. “We are committed to continuing to work to normalize the speed of access to all services, so as to operate normally as soon as possible.”
On Friday, the platform with which recipes are validated in stores was changed (EFE)
The situation has national scope, since the PAMI made modifications in the central validation system of the Ambulatory Medicines Conventionstopping doing it for FarmaPAMI and passing to the system MIRACLESa decision that is the prerogative of the Institute.
He College of Pharmacists of Mendoza He admitted the difficulties in selling the remedies that should be recognized. And they explained that they do not have answers for the large number of members that the organization has, because it is an exclusive matter of medical coverage. “The failure generates claims and unrest throughout the country,” they noted.
“There are patients who wait half an hour to purchase the remedy and end up leaving because we cannot sell it to them. Unfortunately, without authorization from PAMI we cannot make the delivery,” he explained to diary ONE the president of the College of Pharmacists of Mendoza, Mario Valestra.
Meanwhile, the College of Pharmacists of Córdoba reported that due to failures in the PAMI validator, they could not consult the medical prescriptions of the members and therefore, the dispensation was difficult: “The IMED validator that PAMI uses to deliver medications to pharmacies was previously from a company and now he changed it. The validator is the one that is not working, it is an issue unrelated to pharmacies,” he argued. Diego Miranda, vice president of the school, in dialogue with Cba24n.
The problematic situation is national in scope since the PAMI made modifications to the central validation system of the Ambulatory Medications Agreement, ceasing to do so through FarmaPAMI and moving to the IMED system (Illustrative Image Infobae)
Infobae He also learned that in the province of Santa Fe Yesterday the system did not work, which caused major problems for PAMI members who went to look for their medications at Santa Fe pharmacies. From the Santa Fe College of Pharmacists They issued the following statement: “PAMI: The IMED Validator does not work. Given the impossibility of validating prescriptions for PAMI members, we disclaim the responsibility of the Pharmacies in our Network. Pharmacies cannot correctly provide services to members.”
Yesterday, the three pharmaceutical chambers COFA, FACAF and FEFARA They warned in a letter that “as of November 1, PAMI-providing pharmacies throughout the country began to work with a new prescription validation system, in a change ordered by PAMI for the care of its members. In The implementation of this technological change provided by the Institute has generated a significant number of difficulties when serving retirees at the counter. of pharmacies throughout the country, and these difficulties persist to this day, Tuesday, November 5.”
“These difficulties translate into substantial delays or impediments in the dispensing of medications, inconveniences in locating electronic prescriptions, and other specific circumstances that make a significant decline in service quality that our pharmacies usually provide to PAMI members, who, prevented in many cases from accessing their medication, rightly show their displeasure,” they indicated.
“The responsibility for this situation does not lie with the pharmacies, we are making every effort, as is usual in the most extreme circumstances, but the difficulties continue and it is necessary that those who have the power to act achieve a solution, so that systems optimize their operation and normality is achieved in the service,” they stated from the three chambers.
