Andorra's Health Minister Confirms Electronic Prescription Pilot in 10 Days

Health Minister Helena Mas has confirmed that Andorra's new electronic prescription system could begin pilot testing within the next 10 days, as part of the government's push to modernize medical prescribing.

Speaking to the Andorran News Agency (ANA), Mas said the executive is finalizing an updated version for real-world trials before rolling it out to all healthcare professionals after the summer. The pilot phase will identify potential improvements, resolve issues and fine-tune operations ahead of full implementation.

Mas described the platform as a major advance over current practices. Beyond simply storing prescriptions on mobile devices, it fully incorporates prescription details into patients' electronic health records. This allows doctors, nurses and pharmacy technicians to access a patient's complete medication profile, minimizing duplication or errors.

The system bolsters patient safety by ensuring no two providers prescribe overlapping drugs without seeing the overall treatment, Mas noted. Pharmacy links will enable real-time verification of whether prescriptions have been dispensed, remain valid or have expired, boosting overall healthcare efficiency.

She acknowledged the project's technical challenges, which demand close coordination between prescribing and dispensing teams. The tools must be agile, reliable and secure, she stressed. A key hurdle was developing a bespoke solution tailored to Andorra's health system and integrated with its national records.

Although external packages from other territories were considered, officials opted for an in-house approach using an existing module for optimal fit. This handles complex variables including drug formats, dosages, interactions and treatment durations. Andorra's drug catalogue spans roughly 30,000 entries—unusually extensive for the region—with about 10,000 from Spain and 17,000 from France. Mas called the catalogue "very, very broad," noting such scale is rare locally.