Effects of the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) on Pharmacies.
This Directive introduces harmonised European measures to fight medicine falsifications and ensure that medicines are safe and that the trade in medicines is rigorously controlled. The Directive has been designed to more rigorously protect the pharmaceutical supply chain by closing it through the adoption of serialisation and verification measures and procedures.
Some measures introduced include; tougher rules on import of active pharmaceutical ingredients and strengthened record-keeping requirements for wholesale distributors.
In order to comply with the requirements of FMD, community pharmacies will be required as part of the dispensing process to scan a 2D barcode, on each pack and communicating with the National Medicine Verification System.
The new Directive introduced safety features – such as a unique identifier and an anti-tampering device on the outer packaging of medicines – that requires pharmacies to adapt their process to check the compliance of any medicines they sell. Compliance with FMD regulation will enable pharmacies to improve their stock management procedures and prevent falsified medicines from entering the supply chain.
Every pharmacy within the EU should now be equipped with a barcode scanning solution by. Zebra scanning technology from VisionID helps pharmacies to achieve compliance by enabling them to scan, record manage and verify all medications they hold on stock and dispense to patients.
Through using an array of barcode scanners from Zebra Technologies will create benefits in areas such as:
- Pharmacy Application Areas & Benefits
- Goods In.
- Improved pharmacy management
- Dispensing accuracy.
- Accurate prescription verification.
- Tracking medications.
Whilst complying with the new FMD regulations will see improvements in the following areas:
- Patient safety.
- Pharmacy stock.
- Patient information.
To find out more about the affect of FMD on your pharmacy contact info@visionid.ie. Or for more information on barcode scanners visit the VisionID website.
