All King George’s Medical College (KGMU) doctors will now be informed about medicines available via WhatsApp (WA) on a daily basis, aiming to ensure that doctors prescribe only those medicines that are available at subsidised rates with medical stores on the campus.
“Pharmacists deployed at each medical store will update the stock of medicines available in the morning to the doctors of the department concerned. This way, each doctor will get to know what medicines are available with the store on the campus and the benefit will be to patients by obtaining medicines at a discount,” said Prof Vikay Kumar, in charge of the hospital revolving fund (HRF) pharmacy on campus.
KGMU runs a pharmacy for each clinical department and medicines are provided at a discount of up to 70%. Doctors in each department have already been asked to give a list of medicines they prescribe to their patients and the stock is being maintained at the pharmacy of the department concerned.
“We are planning to introduce this system very soon. With this, we wish to make sure medicines are made available according to doctors’ list and the stock is updated with them. All doctors will be members of the WhatsApp group made by the pharmacy to get daily updates on stock,” said Prof Kumar.
{{/usCountry}}“We are planning to introduce this system very soon. With this, we wish to make sure medicines are made available according to doctors’ list and the stock is updated with them. All doctors will be members of the WhatsApp group made by the pharmacy to get daily updates on stock,” said Prof Kumar.
{{/usCountry}}“Some corporate/private hospitals too follow this system to avoid inconvenience to patients while purchasing medicine. It saves the patients from going to medical stores one after the other in search of the prescribed medicine,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary-general, Association of International Doctors.
The new measures are being introduced after the arrest of three persons who were trying to sell medicines obtained from KGMU on discounted rates in the open market. The HRF pharmacies have already been told to sell medicine only against KGMU prescriptions having a stamp of doctors and keep a copy of the OPD ticket with the pharmacy.
“We are making all efforts now to make sure our efforts to provide medicine at subsidised rates reach the patients coming here,” said Prof Kumar. He said that more measures will be introduced as and when required.