What conditions do I have to fulfil to use the option to order an e-Prescription in Medicover OnLine?

You can order an e-Prescription in Medicover OnLine if:

• you have active medical care at Medicover;
• the medication was previously prescribed by a Medicover doctor;
• less than 18 months have passed since your last appointment during which the medication was prescribed.

To order an e-Prescription:

• log in to the full version of Medicover OnLine using your card number and password;
• after logging in, you will see the “e-Prescription” section on the home page of the Patient Panel – you can check the e-Prescription code there and, after entering the details, order it.

When is it possible for a patient to order a prescription without seeing the doctor?

The patient can order a prescription up to 18 months after the medical visit when the previous prescription for a medicine taken on a regular basis was written out.

Prescriptions for medicines taken on a regular basis can be issued in the case of a stable chronic diseases (verified by examinations and the information on good health condition provided by the patient), which is confirmed by the patient upon ordering of the prescription and on an appropriate form upon the prescription’s collection.

How will I know that the e-Prescription I ordered in Medicover OnLine has already been issued?

When the e-Prescription is issued:

• you will receive an e-mail informing you that the status of the e-Prescription has been changed;
• you will see a notification about the change of the e-Prescription order status in Medicover OnLine.

In addition, in the e-Prescription section:

• you can download your e-Prescription;
• you can check the code of your e-Prescription (if you have a PESEL number (personal identity number));
• you can order an already issued e-Prescription again.

Can doctors write out prescriptions despite not having examined the patient in person?

According to the Act on Healthcare Institutions of 15 April 2011 (Journal of Laws of 2015, Items 618, 788 and 905) and Article 42 of the Act on Medical Profession:

• doctors may provide treatment via telecommunications systems;
• doctors may write out prescriptions necessary to continue treatment without personally examining the patient if it is justified by the patient’s health condition reported in medical records;
• there are no legal obstacles to writing out prescriptions for medicines used on a regular basis after the patient submits a request for such medicines.

What are the requirements that need to be met so that a medicine can be reimbursed?

According to legal requirements and the rules of reimbursement applied by the National Health Fund (NFZ), each doctor has the right to write out a prescription for reimbursed drugs if he/she has access to medical records confirming a disease that justifies reimbursement in accordance with the medicine’s registered indications.

Patients whose rights to the benefits are not confirmed in the eligibility verification system (eWUŚ) used by NFZ will not receive reimbursement.

Which doctor should a patient visit to obtain a prescription for contraceptives and other gynaecological medicines?

Prescriptions for gynaecological medicines (including those related to hormonal contraception, hormone replacement therapy, and emergency contraception) should be written out by a gynaecologist.

In exceptional circumstances, the decision to issue the prescription rests with the personal doctor.

When can doctors write out refunded prescriptions without examining the patient?

At Medicover, prescriptions for medicines taken on a regular basis can be issued by the following types of doctors, each time after having consulted the patient’s medical records:

• • the specialist who has taken care of the patient’s treatment,
• • the personal general practitioner,
• • the general practitioner replacing the personal doctor.

In the interest of patients’ health, prescriptions for highly specialised medicines should always be written out by an appropriate specialist.

Does issuing refunded prescriptions require that the patient sees the specialist once a year?

No, it does not if the primary care doctor or other doctor writing out the prescription has access to the medical records of the patient held by Medicover and if the records confirm the diagnosis of a disease that entitles the patient to reimbursement.

In what situations is it necessary to present a medical certificate issued by a specialist?

A medical certificate from a specialist is required only if Medicover’s system contains no data that would confirm the disease and the need to treat it.

In the public healthcare system, the general practitioner may need a certificate from a specialist to have confirmation of the diagnosis, information on the medicines used, their dosage and duration of the therapy because the medical records confirming the disease are kept by the specialist. The general practitioner has no access to the medical records justifying reimbursement. The National Health Fund has waived the requirement to present such a certificate each year and left the decision on continuation of the treatment to the general practitioner.

For what periods of treatment can e-Prescriptions be issued?

An e-prescription can be valid for 1 year (365 days). Such e-prescriptions are given for example to chronically ill patients who take certain medicines on a regular basis. The doctor must indicate that the e-prescription is to be valid for 365 days – you will see the ‘fill by’ date on your e-prescription. However, even though the e-prescription is issued for 365 days, the doctor can prescribe the medicine for a maximum of 360 days of treatment.

If your e-prescription is valid for one year, you should still buy the first pack before the 30 days have passed. If you do this after 30 days, the dispenser will give you a smaller amount of the medicine, in proportion to the number of days that have passed since the e-prescription was issued or since the ‘fill from’ date. When buying subsequent packs, no matter when you come to collect them, the dispenser will no longer reduce the amount of the medicine.

One e-prescription can be filled at one pharmacy – if the patient fills the prescription partially (e.g. buys 1 pack out of 3), they must buy the remaining 2 packs at the same pharmacy.

What are serial e-Prescriptions?

If it is necessary to divide a number of packs of medicines to be collected over a period of time (not all at once), the doctor can issue several e-prescriptions for the same medicine and indicate a deferred ’fill from’ date. Several e-prescriptions are included in a prescription package and each e-prescription and e-prescriptions included in the prescription package can be filled at a different pharmacy – these are called serial prescriptions.

The doctor can write out up to 12 prescriptions at a time for consecutive periods not exceeding a total of 12 months of treatment (360 days of use). The doctor may not prescribe the medication for more than 6 months (180 days of use) on a single prescription.