Medicines scanning under the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) is making a positive difference to pharmacy management, according to a recent survey by the Irish Medicines Verification Organisation (IMVO). One-in-four pharmacists surveyed say their FMD software is providing additional data that is helping with the running of their pharmacy. According to Ms Leonie Clarke, General Manager, IMVO, this reflects a growing realisation across the EU that the implementation of FMD can support better pharmacy and patient management, along with ensuring patient safety by preventing falsified medicines from entering the legal supply chain. IMVO has recently launched a new website (www.imvo.ie) to provide additional guidance and support on FMD.
“We know from our engagement that pharmacists, hospitals, wholesalers and marketing authorisation holders (MAHs) have worked hard to meet their FMD obligations. What was encouraging to see from our survey was the wider benefits that a significant number are already experiencing, for example with expiry date tracking. We would be hopeful that the comprehensive range of guidance available on our new website will support more pharmacists in ensuring smooth and efficient scanning, so the added value from FMD software could be of benefit to many more,” said Ms Clarke.
The new website is part of an expanded range of supports that IMVO, the non-profit organisation managing the national medicines verification system for Ireland, is introducing over the coming months to help pharmacies and other users of the system become comfortable with scanning and managing alerts. These include a series of webinars and full details of these will be available shortly on the IMVO website, it said.
“We recognised the enormous pressures that pharmacists have been under over the past year by extending the ‘Use and Learn’ phase beyond its original deadline. Now, with the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine, like everyone, we would be hopeful that society and business life will start to return to normal across the second half of the year. While a date for ending ‘Use and Learn’ has not been finalised, we will provide ample notice. In the meantime, we would encourage any pharmacist, hospital, wholesaler or MAH who may require additional support or guidance on the implementation of the FMD or want to find out about our upcoming webinars to visit our website,” Ms Clarke added.
