Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

“Pharmacy on Line” streamlines prescription service in a more effective, time-saving, money-saving and dioxide carbon emission reduction /environment-friendly way

Mr. Chen Li-Chi, director of pharmacy

From now on, prescription service will be going on-line, making your own laptop a mobile pharmacy. On January 15, 2010, Taipei City Hospital announced that over two hundred quality community pharmacies in Taipei City and Taipei County will cooperate in on-line networking service. From today on, people having prescription from Zhong Xing and Yang Ming Branch of Taipei City Hospital for chronic disease, need not to go out to the hospitals for prescription filled. They can utilize the “Prescription Information Platform” on-line service through their laptops by following the three simple steps to send their prescriptions to the pharmacy of their own choice in their community where they can get their prescriptions filled.

This new service will enable community pharmacies to prepare their medicine earlier, so that patients can take their prescriptions to have them filled with much ease saving the time spent on waiting. Furthermore, it can not only save the time on trafficking and help reduce the carbon dioxide emission, but also save the fees of registration and the patient’s partial cost of the medicine. In other words, by using prescription on line, you will not only save your money but also promote environment protection.

Being a chronic diabetic and high blood pressure patient, grandma Huang had to spend a whole morning to go to Zhong Xing Branch of Taipei City Hospital to have her prescription filled. Now, she can take her prescription to nearby community pharmacy for the same purpose. Besides, as her prescription covering a variety of medicines in large quantity, she had to wait for some time if there was a deficiency of medical supplies. Now with the introduction of the new on-line service, grandma Huang can use internet at home after her visit to the hospital to send her prescription through the “prescription information platform” to community pharmacy for filling. On receiving her prescription, the community pharmacy will prepare the medicine immediately and notify her once the medicine is ready and remind her where or when to pick up her prescription. What a gratifying service to the patients.

Mr. Chen Li-Chi, director of pharmacy of Taipei City Hospital reminds patients of producing their national health insurance cards and prescription for medicine pick-up. There will be no extra charge for the prescription filling. The benefits of this prescription on-line service are manifold:

1. money-saving: save twice the registration fee of NT$50 each and patient’s partial medical cost of NT$240 each, a total saving of NT$580 (chronic disease’s second prescription and third prescription filling)
2. time-saving: save the time of leave taking or accompanied by dependents for hospital visit and prescription filling.
3. carbon dioxide reduction: through pharmacy on-line service, patients can save traffic time to hospital. For example, driving or taking taxi for ten kilometers to the hospital each visit will contribute 2.3 kilos of carbon dioxide, the amount can only be redressed by planting two additional trees each year. If the patients can go to nearby community pharmacy, the reduction of carbon dioxide will be considerable.
4. pharmacy consultation: the pharmacists in the community pharmacies will have more disposable time to provide professional consultation and guidance on safe medication. Besides, free delivery service for disabled patients is also available.

Websites for prescription information platform are:
http://www.tpech.gov.tw/ click “prescription request Zhong Xing/Yang Ming” under “treatment” or directly link to http://rsp.tpech.gov.tw/repmain/repmain 1.aspx