Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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GOOD PHARMACY PRACTICE IN THE CONTEXT OF CROSS-BORDER HEALTHCARE

OFELIA CRIŞAN*

Department of Pharmaceutical Legislation and Management, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 12 Ion Creangă Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

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Directives 2011/24/EU and 2012/52/EU include rules for facilitating the access of European citizens to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare services, including the recognition of cross-border prescriptions. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of European provisions on the activity of pharmacists, who must comply with the requirements of good pharmacy practice. Comparative analysis and interpretation were used to this end. When providing cross-border healthcare, pharmacists must verify the authenticity and legality of prescriptions (compulsory elements established at European level, including elements to facilitate contact between healthcare professionals from different states). They must also evaluate the prescriptions (including the correct identification of medicinal products for their safe substitution) and provide quality information and assistance to patients (including measures to facilitate the comprehensibility of the information associated with the medicinal product). The paper suggests measures to facilitate the implementation of European provisions in order to provide high-quality pharmacy services in the context of cross-border healthcare. Pharmacists will have to adapt to new rules and instruments in order to ensure appropriate cross-border pharmaceutical care.