EPS Sanitas patients will now receive their medicines from these pharmaceutical managers from October 1
From October 1, 2024, Sanitas EPS will launch a strategy to optimize drug distribution in Colombia. The intervention led by Supersalud includes the incorporation of 11 new pharmaceutical managers who will be tasked with guaranteeing access to medicines for more than 1.3 million patients distributed in 15 departments of the country.
Until now, Cruz Verde has been Sanitas’ chief pharmaceutical manager, but this strategy represents a substantial change, increasing the number of companies responsible for drug distribution from two to 11.
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The arrival of new operators will represent an important transformation for the Sanitas service delivery network. How did he know Blu radioThe companies joining this work are: Pharmasan, Supplies and Subsidies Colombia SA, Discolmets, Genhospi, cohan, Insumedic, MYTH health, Humsalud and Serrano Health Ethics. These join existing operators such as Green cross and Audi farm.
These efforts not only diversify the supply of medicines, but also seek to guarantee better access, especially in remote regions. To this end, the plan envisages the opening of physical dispensing points to enable patients in rural and hard-to-reach areas to receive medication without having to travel to departmental capitals.
The plan will be implemented in two phases. The first, which will run until December 2024, is aimed at expanding coverage in 15 selected departments: Antioquia, Boyacá, Casanare, Cesar, Chocó, Córdoba, Guainía, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Santander and Vichada. A second phase planned for January 2025 will continue to expand and optimize the service.
This plan represents a significant change for Sanitas, especially after its intervention by the National Health Superintendency (Supersalud) at the beginning of 2024.
Recently, Congressman Andrés Forero of the Democratic Center used the platform x to draw attention to possible irregularities in the distribution of pharmaceutical managers. According to Forero, in departments such as Norte de Santander, the number of pharmacies will decrease drastically, from 14 to just 4 in the region, with only one drug store in Cúcuta, the capital.
In particular, Forero mentioned the case of Pharmasan, which will have fewer drugstores in the area than Cruz Verde, which could affect patients’ access to drugs. Besides, criticized the inclusion of Cohan (Cooperative of Hospitals of Antioquia), pointing out that it is a company with several fixed contracts and a limited presence in the regionsdespite his closeness to the Deputy Minister of Health, Luis Alberto Martínez.
In the face of criticism, Cohan issued a statement defending his career and experience in the sector. “We have over 41 years of experience and dedicated to comprehensive pharmaceutical management,” they noted. The company emphasized that it has positioned itself as a “reference and leader” in drug negotiations, working with other cooperatives to obtain better prices and ensure optimal quality of medical supplies.
In his defense, Cohan pointed this out It has business relationships with more than 280 laboratories and processes a monthly purchase volume of more than $40,000 million., which means the distribution of more than 36 million units of medicine. In addition, they said they were not banned by any pharmaceutical company and had no legal problems operating them.
The announcement of a change in pharmaceutical managers has raised concerns in the sector. Acemi, the EPS union of the contributory regime, warned of possible difficulties in the provision of services. The subject reported compliance modifications in the Sanitas service network that caused complications for users, for example in the event of emergencieswhen patients were sent from provider to provider without receiving care.
In addition, Acemi has expressed concern about the capacity of new operators in some regions, where they fear they do not have the necessary infrastructure to maintain the level of service that patients demand. “We recognize that the biggest difficulties in drug dispensing are caused by out-of-stock and out-of-stock drugs, which cannot be resolved by changing the dispensing operator,” they said.