Rome, 14 April – The Emilia Romagna Region deems it essential to proceed with a substantial savings plan which (inevitably) also includes pharmaceutical expenditure, on which the aim is to make savings by expanding the list of drugs distributed on behalf, including those for respiratory tract: 1,240,000 pieces (2022 data) which “weigh” over 50 million euros on the turnover of pharmacies in the Region (a measure that would mean an average annual loss of over 5,000 euros per pharmacy.
On the other hand, the Region proposes to move from direct distribution (hospital pharmacies and pharmaceutical services of the Local Health Authorities) to the Dpc about 650,000 packs of medicines in three years, an increase of 37 cents for the delivery in Dpc only to low-turnover rural pharmacies. bringing the fee to 4.25 euros per piece, which remains the lowest at a national level. The Region would also undertake to expand and strengthen the “pharmacy of services” by providing for new services to be paid by the Regional Health Service and, in the future, to simplify the regulation of distribution on behalf. These, in summary, are the terms of the negotiations for the renewal of the memorandum of understanding on the subject of services, and in particular regarding the Dpc, which are still ongoing in Emilia Romagna between the Region and the pharmacy trade associations.
In a note, the regional contact person of Farmacieunite, Stefano Ferretti, highlights the very strong criticalities of the proposal of the Emilia Romagna Region: “Firstly, because the economic damage due to the transfer of respiratory drugs to the Dpc would seriously endanger the economic sustainability especially of the weaker pharmacies, secondly, the proposed transfer from direct distribution to the Dpc is insignificant, just as the increase is irrelevant of the fee”.
Another aspect highlighted by Farmacieunite is the cost of dispensing recipes in Dpc, which does not take into account the time that is at least four times greater than the dispensing in “contracted”, and a load of technical and bureaucratic formalities that is unsustainable in relation to the foreseen tariff.
“An increase in services was then envisaged which could bring advantages to larger and more organized pharmacies, while pharmacies with a limited user base could hardly recover the investments necessary to activate the new services” Ferretti observes again, which also foreshadows inconvenience to the user: “With the enlargement of the list distributed on behalf, patients who need widely used drugs would be forced to go to the pharmacy several times, with the consequent social costs that would derive from it”.
Pis Federico Conte, national president of Farmacieunite (in the picture), At this point it becomes essential to approve as soon as possible a single national list of drugs that can be distributed on behalf (delegating Aifa to deal with it) and to define a single fee for pharmacies to be established when renewing the national pharmaceutical agreement. Equally necessary, for Conte, to bring order and sustainability to the pharmaceutical service provided by community pharmacies, increase the fee proposed for the Dpc by aligning it with the national average and review the regulation of distribution on behalf, accepting the modification proposals already made by the pharmacy representatives.
The conclusion of the negotiation is expected this week with the evaluation of the observations presented by the General Directorate of Health of the Region.
