Within six months, all hospitals and clinics under the UAE Ministry of Health (MoH) will issue electronic or online prescriptions, said a senior health official.
Dr Hussain Al Amiri, CEO of Medical Practice and Licensing at the MoH, said that a ministerial decree will announce the system that aims at ensuring patient safety and best care practices.
He was speaking at a forum organised by MoH for the medical and pharmaceutical private sector held at the University of Sharjah.
Dr Amiri, however, did not elaborate on how the online prescription system will work, though a similar system is currently being used by the Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms).
He made the announcement after the private sector complained that resistant strains of certain diseases were increasing in the country due to wrong prescription techniques adopted by doctors.
Dr Ahmed Hussain Al Zarouni, Director of Medical Licensing Department at MoH and a general physician pointed out that during a study carried out in the UAE in 1997, it was discovered that 80 per cent of the prescriptions were wrongly written.
“The study found out that a few fatalities had also occurred due to over-prescription of antibiotics, especially in cases concerning upper respiratory tract infections,” he explained. He advised practitioners not to over-prescribe and asked patients not to demand prescription for antibiotics from doctors.
The MoH also plans to launch a public health education programme on the negative effects of taking medicine without prescription.
The officials also highlighted that the recent MoH decision to use generic instead of brand names in drugs would regulate medication, improve patient safety and reduce errors.
“Identifying medicines with generic names is now being done globally. Once the patient recognises the drug, he can choose from whatever is available in the pharmacy,” they said.
Monitoring Of Clinics
The Ministry of Health plans to monitor clinics found overprescribing and referring patients to specific pharmacies.
“This can only be done once a customer complains to us. However, people do talk and we cannot allow exploitation,” said Dr Zarouni.
The monitoring plan follows complaints that practitioners were misusing diagnostic tools for financial benefits.
Dr Ahmed Hussain Al Zarouni, Director of Medical Licensing Department at MoH and a general physician, said that during the past five months, at least five payments regarding similar cases of malpractice have been refunded.
“Though diagnostics is difficult to judge since doctors can always find a rationale for having issued tests and prescriptions, we hope that the upcoming compulsory health insurance scheme will regulate such issues,” he said.
