New system to cut unscheduled primary care appointments

The regional health department aims to cut unscheduled primary care appointments related to chronic treatment renewals by 25 percent through a new alert system that will notify patients before their medication reaches its expiry date. The tool will start operating from today, Thursday 1st October, and will allow communications to be received via SMS or through the GVA-Salut application.

The Generalitat thus intends to anticipate one of the situations that forces patients with prolonged treatments to contact health centres: checking whether their medication remains valid or requesting a new medical evaluation when necessary. The system includes online and offline actions, both in the medical consultation and in the health centre, as well as direct communication mechanisms with the patient and the integration of information into the electronic prescription system utilised by pharmacies.

The system will apply to chronic treatments of 180 days or more. Health information systems will detect those whose end date is scheduled in the following 45 days and will activate the corresponding action. In cases where the doctor has already indicated the extension of the treatment, the patient will directly receive a notice informing them that their medication has been renewed. In this way, they will not have to go to the health centre or carry out procedures to check if it is still valid.

When the treatment requires a medical evaluation before being extended, the system will also notify the citizen in advance so that they can request an appointment with their health professional. The objective is to prevent the need to renew the medication from being detected when the treatment is already about to end.

The health department points out that this strategy potentially affects nearly 2.5 million patients with chronic treatments in the Valencian Community. The regional health chief, Marciano Gómez, has noted that the new system represents another step in reducing bureaucracy in primary care and has placed the planned reduction of unscheduled appointments for renewing chronic medication at 25 percent.

The tool will also allow health professionals to have a joint view of the patient’s treatments. During the consultation, the system will display a pop-up window when it detects that one is close to finishing, so that the doctor can evaluate its continuity.

The new circuit also incorporates pharmacies. Information on treatments about to end will be integrated into the electronic prescription system, so the pharmacist will be able to know about this circumstance during dispensing and guide the patient on the actions they must perform. The health department will accompany the launch of the system with an informational campaign to explain to the public that they will be able to receive messages related to their chronic treatments through their mobile phone or GVA-Salut.