NHF launches innovative prescription app
THE NATIONAL Health Fund (NHF) launched its free prescription-submission mobile application, Quick Prescript, on Tuesday, April 24, at the Spanish Court Hotel in St Andrew.
Quick Prescript is a mobile application which, once downloaded, allows patients to submit their public prescriptions to Drug Serv pharmacies by taking a photograph of the prescription and uploading it to the Quick Prescript app. Patients are then contacted through Live Chat when the medication is ready for pick-up at their selected Drug Serv pharmacy.
Those without a smartphone or mobile data will be able to take advantage of the innovative service via the Quick Prescript kiosks, which are to be placed at selected Drug Serv Pharmacies and public health clinics across the island.
Three Drug Serv locations have been equipped with the kiosks so far. They are located in Cross Roads, Kingston; Montego Bay, St James and an NHF Drug Serv in Greater Portmore, St Catherine. Thirty additional kiosks will be placed at Drug Serv locations across the island by the end of June 2018. The NHF has assured the public that the data is encrypted and secured.
In two months’ time, services being offered under the new Quick Prescript app will be extended to a total of 53 private pharmacies which have partnered with the NHF under the Public-Private Sector Pharmacy Partner Programme.
Chairman of the NHF, Gregory Mair, said the Quick Prescript app will enable patients to get their medication faster, and is a muchneeded enhancement to pharmacy services being offered by the NHF.
EXPEDITING THE PROCESS
“With a growing and ageing population, there is even greater urgency to find and implement solutions that provide value, reduce waiting time and save money. The development and the launch of the Quick Prescript is a clear demonstration of our commitment to this approach. This prescription submission a pp will expedite the process in which the approximately 2.7 million outpatients of the island’s public health facilities fill their prescriptions,” said Mair.
CEO of the NHF, Everton Anderson, lauded the NHF Drug Serv Oversight Committee for the part each member has played in bringing the app to market, and said that the efficiency of Drug Serv was a key driver in providing better quality health services and increasing the well-being of Jamaicans.
“One of the primary objectives of the Drug Serv programme is to provide high-quality pharmaceutical service. With that in mind, we are constantly working to make improvements in service delivery at our Drug Serv pharmacies by introducing innovative strategies to reduce customer waiting time and improve efficiency,” Anderson explained.
“This kind of service is really designed to reduce wait, improve access and improve medication compliance, ultimately leading to a healthier population,” he continued. He also noted that the Quick Prescript application will reduce the average patient waiting time for filling prescriptions to 30 minutes.
The NHF has been undertaking several initiatives aimed at improving the standard of care and service delivery, in particular its Drug Serv Division, which provides prescription service at more than 118 locations on the island.
Speaking at the launch, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton commended the NHF team for carrying out the mandate of the ministry to reduce the waiting time in the public health sector.
“The NHF is responding to the clear needs that exist out there. They are sensitive to satisfying the needs of their patients,” said Dr Tufton.