The Federation of Social Insurances of Austria has won the first ever Special Distinction for Innovation for Europe for the good practice E-prescription: Totally digital. The award was given as part of the ISSA Good Practice Award ceremony at the Regional Social Security Forum for Europe in Porto, Portugal. In the interview, Alexander Burz outlines the thoughts behind the Austrian e-prescription system, how it works and how it will be an inspiration for others.

What does it mean for your institution to receive the first ever ISSA Special Distinction for Innovation for Europe?

I would like to thank the International Social Security Association (ISSA) and the International Jury for giving us the award. It is a great opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of innovation in social security. Often, on a national scale, we get stuck in the daily business of our multi-stakeholder system in social security. The award recognizes all the effort and the successful result.

What triggered your institution to go totally digital with e-prescriptions?

The e-prescription or “e-Rezept” in Austria is far more than simply an electronic way of issuing prescriptions. We follow a holistic approach starting from the prescription by the doctor, via the submission of data to our e-card-system, the distribution of medication through pharmacies and finally to the accounting system. Doctors still use their familiar software tools for prescribing, but e-prescriptions are now stored within the central Austrian social insurance database, the e-card system.

In the end, every stakeholder along the process; the patients, the doctors, the pharmacies and the social security institutions profit from the more accessible, efficient, transparent and fraud proof system. You must keep in mind that we deliver over 70 million prescriptions a year via this highly efficient process.

What is the main impact of the e-prescription at the individual, institutional and / or national levels?

For our insured population the e-prescription process is very easy to use. All prescriptions are stored centrally in the e-card system, and the patient is provided with an electronic e-prescription voucher.Patients can also access their prescriptions via e-card, apps provided by social insurance institutions or their individual e-prescription ID.

In addition, prescriptions can easily be redeemed for other people. Prescriptions for co-insured children up to 14 years can be accessed via apps of social insurance institutions. Issuing a power of attorney for social insurance services authorizes the representative to access prescriptions via apps. Also, prescription code or ID can be passed on to a trustworthy person for picking up the medication. Furthermore, e-prescriptions can be issued in connection with telemedical services.

While the system was designed for all prescriptions covered by social insurance, private prescriptions can also be issued and filled electronically, and a majority of doctors and pharmacies are already using our electronic system for private prescriptions. This confirms that the processes works and is well thought-through.

Another aspect is that the accounting processes between pharmacies and social insurance institutions are now completely automated and paperless, therefore reducing the bureaucratic burden.

How can your good practice inspire other countries and pave the way for more efficient social security in Europe and beyond?

We hope it can be an inspiration, and soon there will be a European Union-wide system of e-prescriptions. Although the specification only focuses on the prescription process without covering all other aspects of our Austrian system, our holistic approach might also be interesting for other countries.

But you always need to keep in mind the different prerequisites in each country. In Austria the e-card-system is the major architectural basis for the e-prescription, and without this network that connects all doctors, pharmacies and the social insurance institutions, the process would have to work differently.

Digitalizing a process always requires looking at the impact on the organizational processes of every stakeholder affected. This way everyone feels included in the change.