2023-09-25 12:35:31
– Pharmacy consultations to relieve doctors
The “Soignez-moi.ch” application and website now allow an anamnesis and a prescription directly in a pharmacy, then validated by a doctor. Useful?
Published today at 2:35 p.m.
Patients are generally contacted by a doctor within half an hour following the medication is dispensed at the pharmacy. The prescription is then confirmed or adjusted.
KEYSTONE
A consultation at a pharmacy rather than at the doctor. This is what the Soignez-moi.ch platform now offers. The patient is examined in the pharmacy on the basis of a questionnaire previously completed online. He is immediately given the necessary medication.
With one subtlety, all the same: the patient must wait to be contacted by a doctor Soignez-moi.ch before taking treatment. The time limit is “around 30 minutes”, the time for the doctor to read the prescription via the application and then confirm or modify it.
But then, what’s the point? “Place the pharmacist at the heart of the first-recourse system and facilitate access to basic care, in a context where general practitioners and emergency departments are overwhelmed,” responds Romain Boichat, operational director of Soignez-moi.ch. It specifies that the consultation (flat rate of 59 francs) and medications are covered by basic insurance.
Some symptoms only
Already used by around ten French-speaking pharmacies, the model obviously does not cover all the symptoms. Those responsible mention sore throats, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, erectile dysfunction, back pain and even urinary burns. At first glance, problems for which recourse to the doctor is already not systematic.
“Certainly, but pharmacists will be able to provide more things which will be reimbursed by health insurance. I am thinking of certain antibiotics for urinary infections or strep throat, of emergency analgesia which can help relieve pain while waiting for a more in-depth consultation. Our goal is not to compete with doctors but to streamline the system,” underlines Romain Boichat.
“This model corresponds to an extremely important paradigm shift. We will retroactively ask a doctor to assume responsibility and ensure that it is billable.”
Philippe Eggimann, president of the Vaud Society of Medicine
The Vaud Society of Medicine finds the idea “interesting” even if “it raises some questions”. “We are in favor of solutions that facilitate access to care since primary care medicine must refuse patients,” begins its president Philippe Eggimann. These solutions should nevertheless be discussed and explored with partners.”
The specialist elaborates: “This model corresponds to an extremely important paradigm shift. We will retroactively ask a doctor to assume responsibility and ensure that it is billable. So why isn’t it directly the doctor? Soignez-moi.ch Who does the work?”
Philippe Eggimann’s other doubt concerns the target audience. “The application is aimed more at people who do not have a GP, who are young and in good health, with a high deductible. They will pay for the consultation out of their own pocket anyway. And those who have a family doctor model must ask for permission in advance. So the potential seems very limited to me.”
Read alsoRomaric Haddou has been a journalist in the Vaud and regions section since 2016. He covers the health sector in particular.More information
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