Digital prescription
E-prescription, rolled out under the name L'Ordonnance numérique (Digital Prescription), involves digitizing the prescription process between prescribing professionals and those being prescribed.
To get off to a good start
The Digital Ordinance has been in place since 2022 for prescriptions of healthcare products, for doctors and pharmacies. The law provides for the scope of the Digital Prescription to be extended to all prescriptions for health products and services before December 31, 2024 (see Order No. 2020-1408 of November 18, 2020).
Decree No. 2023-1210 of December 20, 2023 defines the terms and conditions for implementing this deadline and specifies the digital prescription process. As part of the second wave of the Ségur agreement, work on digital prescriptions is continuing, particularly in the field of healthcare products for prescribing doctors and pharmacies. However, the level of deployment of solutions expected by the end of 2024 has not been achieved, which means we must focus our efforts on ensuring that all doctors and pharmacies in urban areas are fully equipped by 2025. For the deployment of other professions in urban areas and hospitals, work is underway to adapt the initial schedule.
In order to ensure the buy-in of healthcare professionals, the digital prescription must be integrated into their business processes, which requires work to integrate it into the software offerings of prescribers and prescribers.
It involves several steps:
- The prescriber enters the prescription data, which is sent in a structured format and stored in the e-prescription database, hosted and secured by the French national health insurance system.
- Each prescription is associated with a unique prescription number, accessible via a QR code and appearing on the prescription under this QR code.
- This QR code allows the prescribing healthcare professional to consult the prescription data by querying the e-prescription database from their software and then to execute the prescription. The procedures performed or dispensed are also sent to the French national health insurance system, along with the invoice, and stored in the e-prescription database.
As the Health Insurance system has access to prescription, dispensing, and treatment data, the prescriber no longer needs to scan the prescription and send it via the SCOR (SCannérisation des ORdonnances) system. Patients can also find their prescriptions on Mon espace santé, as they are automatically entered into the DMP from the prescriber's software.
In practice
The SESAM-Vitale economic interest group provides publishers with the "digital prescription" specifications package on its Industrial Space. Publishers working with doctors, pharmacists, LPP professionals (list of products and services reimbursable by health insurance), midwives, dental surgeons, nurses, massage therapists, orthoptists, speech therapists, and podiatrists can access it from their Espace Industriels account. Find all the information you need on the GIE SESAM-Vitale website.
When ?
Following the PEM 2D (2017 to 2018) and e-prescription (2018 to 2021) trials, the unified e-prescription system, a core service of the Ségur du Numérique initiative, has been rolled out since 2022 to healthcare professionals who prescribe and are prescribed, and to the general public under the name Ordonnance numérique, starting with doctors and pharmacists.
At the same time, work is continuing with other categories of healthcare professionals.
The rollout will take place in stages and in consultation with representatives of the professions concerned. The level of rollout of solutions expected by the end of 2024 has not been achieved, and the deadline of December 31, 2024, set by law, has been adjusted. This means that we are focusing our efforts on ensuring that all doctors and pharmacies in urban areas are fully equipped by 2025. For the rollout to other professions in cities and hospitals, work is underway to adjust the initial schedule: See the press committee of the 11th Ségur Digital Monitoring Committee.
Discover the digital prescription in video
Compliance
Law on the organization and transformation of the healthcare system
July 24, 2019 - Law on the organization and transformation of the healthcare system
Order No. 2020-1408 of November 18, 2020
Decree No. 2023-1222 of December 20, 2023, on electronic prescriptions
Unified e-prescription service / Digital prescriptions integrated into business software
The "unified e-prescription" or "digital prescription" service is offered as an integrated feature in the professional software used by prescribers and prescribers. Its rollout is taking place in several stages:
- Publication of specifications for prescribing and prescription software, available on the Sesam-Vitale EIG's industry portal;
- The development of the integrated software solution by publishers;
- The signing of an agreement setting out the contractual conditions for the deployment of the service and verification of the compliance of their developments by the CNDA (Centre National de Dépôt et d'Agrément);
- The gradual rollout in the field, training and support by publishers for their user customers.
Pre-series terms and conditions of the Digital Ordinance
The rollout of the service is currently contingent upon the completion of a software pre-production run, as stipulated in the contractual terms of the agreement signed by the publisher upon authorization by the CNDA. These pre-production runs ensure, prior to rollout, that the service functions properly from start to finish and that the e-prescription database is correctly populated.
For any questions regarding the development of the digital prescription, please contact GIE Sesam-Vitale at the following address: relations-industriels@sesam-vital.fr
Frequently Asked Questions
An FAQ section for industry professionals is available in the industry section of the GIE Sesam-Vitale website. If you do not have access to this section, please refer to the access request procedure.
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