Documentation Proposed framework

The prescription

Nothing that follows is in service today. Home delivery of prescribed medicines is a decision for the authorities; this protocol describes what the Medelu standard would provide if they opened this channel, and nothing else.

The current service covers products dispensed without a prescription. Medelu is not asking for distance selling of prescription medicines; the government has written that it does not plan it, and Medelu shares that position. The protocol below concerns the extension of the act of dispensing by the pharmacy itself, never a postal shipment.

The protocol, as the standard would provide

• Upload. The patient attaches their prescription to the order, as a secure photograph transmitted to the pharmacy.
• Validation. The pharmacist checks the prescription and the CNS status before any preparation.
• Prescribed quantities. Nothing more than what is prescribed: the order is bounded by the prescription.
• Handover and original. The pharmacy employee hands over the parcel, verifies identity and takes back the original prescription, which returns to the pharmacy for billing.

Verification at the doorstep

At handover, the pharmacy professional checks the prescription as at the counter and only hands over the medicine if it matches exactly. It is this verification at the doorstep that requires a pharmacy professional, and not just any courier. The prescription is then collected, or marked when it covers several dispensings of the same medicine, exactly as at the pharmacy.

In such a framework, two entry routes would be possible: secure upload, then the electronic prescription via eSanté if it materialises; the European deadline for exchange is set for March 2029. In all cases, the opening of the channel, its conditions and any question of reimbursement remain decisions for the government.