Fallen into Komi: why beneficiaries in Ukhta were left without medicines
The Komi Prosecutor's Office announced a sharp increase in the number of delayed prescriptions for subsidized drugs in the republic: people are prescribed drugs, but they cannot get them. The number of such prescriptions, according to the supervisory agency, reached 3,200, and later increased to 4,000. The reason is the transition to new software, which works with failures. Sources in the industry meanwhile indicate that the new medical information systems are becoming problems in many regions. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Why prescriptions are left unserved
According to the prosecutor's office of the Komi Republic, a sharp increase in the number of prescriptions delayed in service - up to 3200 - is associated with the transition of the regional health care system, including pharmacies, to the new software "Parus".
"As a result of incorrect operation of the program increased the time of customer service, in addition, even secured prescriptions are displayed as delayed, arbitrarily changed information about the dosage of the drug", - stated in the message.
The prosecutor's office promised to assess the compliance of the program with the technical specifications of the procurement, compliance with the procedure of its conduct and the conduct of claims work with the supplier.
The authorities also recognize the problem. Rostislav Goldstein, the acting head of the Komi Republic, on Monday instructed the regional Ministry of Health to strengthen the service of issuing preferential medicines, criticizing the organization of work, and set the task to solve the problem as soon as possible. He demanded that Komi Deputy Prime Minister Igor Dyagilev organize additional jobs. "I have been asking you since November at every meeting and continue to ask you about expired prescriptions. You have been doing well. Have you not seen this problem?" - Rostislav Goldstein stated.
The Komi Ministry of Health told Izvestia that there are enough medicines in stock in pharmacy organizations and in the network of state pharmacies, and the delay in dispensing is due to "the adjustment of the new program for the prescription and dispensing of discounted medicines in medical organizations and state pharmacies to the regional peculiarities of the republic.
- The Komi Ministry of Health turned to a specialized company to implement this program, whose product, unfortunately, fails. The Komi Ministry of Health requires the company to adjust its work. The company promises to eliminate the shortcomings within a week," the ministry told Izvestia.
It is emphasized that the Ministry of Health and state pharmacies "are taking all possible measures to organize the delivery of medicines and medical devices to the points of dispensing", pharmacy employees are working in a reinforced mode.
The press service of the Governor of the Komi Republic told Izvestia that there are enough drugs in stock, for February 4, 2025, 2708 residents of the republic received their medicines on 7010 prescriptions, but there is still a delay in issuance. To speed up the shipment of goods to pharmacies, the regional authorities are going to involve students of the local medical college.
What is the situation in Salekhard and Ukhta?
If in Syktyvkar the interviewed visitors of pharmacies told journalists about the absence of some medicines and noted only unusually large queues, then in Ukhta on February 5 people continued to stand in line for free medicines for hours. There is only one pharmacy in this city that dispenses discounted medicines. According to its employee, the prescriptions turned out to be unserved "due to the fact that there was no medicine for a long time". Then the pharmacy received the discounted medicines, and on Wednesday people began to receive phone calls and messages about the arrival of medicines.
Alexander, a resident of Ukhta, told Izvestia that he came to the pharmacy three days in a row. According to him, in half an hour on Wednesday morning they were able to serve only two people from the queue, the tail of which stretched out into the street. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the computer in the pharmacy was frozen.
- I have type 2 diabetes and I am also prescribed heart medication," he said. - If I can't get the medicine, I'll have to buy it myself at the regular price. But I don't remember this situation before. At least they called a second pharmacist to serve everyone.
Nikolai, a resident of Ukhta, notes that this is the most acute issue for the city now. He is waiting for medicine for his wife, without which she is beginning to suffocate.
- But people come even from Ukhta district. They spend a whole day on the road, "kiss" the door, cry and leave," he told Izvestia. - If they can't get the discounted medicine, they have to buy it with their own money. One package costs 4,000, and you need six of them for a month. You have to spend your pension.
What software was blamed for the problems
Last year, the Komi Ministry of Health turned to an IT company to develop a new program for writing and issuing prescriptions for subsidized drugs. The transition to the software "Parus" took place in December 2024. It was assumed that the new system would improve the quality of patient care.
- The doctor can plan drug therapy personally for the patient, and the system can accurately calculate the course of prescribed treatment. "Thanks to the integration of the new system with the existing medical information system of the Unified Centralized Medical Information System in the region, patients will be able to track prescription appointments on the Gosuservices portal in the personal cabinet 'My Health'," the republican Ministry of Health told Izvestia about the new system. However, it was not possible to link pharmacies and medical institutions with a single system.
At the government meeting Igor Diaghilev said that the general director of the company-developer was tasked to eliminate the comments received from pharmacies and medical institutions by February 5. At the moment the problem has not been completely solved.
Komi prosecutor Nikolai Egorov said at the board meeting on January 31 that the information system "Parus" did not ensure smooth operation - as a result, the dosage of drugs is distorted, SMS-informing patients about the availability of drugs in the pharmacy is not set up. He called it "a step backward compared to the previously established mechanism" and pointed out that "behind the deficiencies are specific persons, customers and contractors" who accepted and paid for the work.
The Komi Prosecutor's Office told Izvestia that the investigation into the case is still ongoing, but refused to disclose any new details.
As Izvestia found out, the company that was involved in setting up the medical information system for drug provision in Komi turned out to be OOO Digital from Voronezh. Over the past five years, this organization has received state contracts for the development of various medical software for more than 200 million rubles. In Komi, Digital was engaged in modernization of the Republican Medical Information and Analytical System (RMIAS) in terms of organization of drug supply management. The cost of the work is more than 18 million rubles. "Izvestia" sent clarifying questions to the Ministry of Health of the republic, which have not yet been answered.
The development company refused to comment.
Meanwhile, a source in the industry told Izvestia that many regions are now facing problems with the development of RMIAS. In Komi, the new program product, according to him, turned out to be too crude, which led to serious problems.
RMIAS is intended for informatization of all medicine in the region, explained the Izvestia interlocutor. Previously, the subjects of the Russian Federation independently dealt with the issue of informatization , and many of them created "surprisingly good software products" that worked stably, the expert explained. However, they had to be abandoned after the decision to switch to a unified medical information system was made at the federal level. To bring the information systems of the regions to a common denominator, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation had to change their existing programs for new ones.
- Large funds were allocated for this within the framework of the national project "Health Care". And not everywhere they were, shall we say, well utilized," the source said.
The question of how timely the Komi Ministry of Health reacted to the situation with prescriptions will probably be answered by the prosecutor's office, the Izvestiya interlocutor added.
Is the problem really only in the software?
Experts note that in a situation where the whole problem is broken software, a solution can be found. Maria Litvinova, executive director of SoyuzPharma, points out: if there are drugs in stock, the solution is to switch the system to manual control. In this case, such a serious problem would not have happened. This suggests that the problem is deeper than it seems at first glance, . Although Maria Litvinova emphasizes that she cannot assess the situation in Komi because she does not have the necessary information.
Moreover, problems in Komi with overdue prescriptions for medicines happen with enviable regularity. Thus, in the spring of 2022, 10.5 thousand prescriptions were overdue. Then it was noted that almost 2 billion rubles were required to provide all residents of the privileged categories, and more than 800 million rubles were missing. At the board of the Komi Prosecutor's Office in January 2025 it was announced that an additional 1 billion rubles were found for the provision of medicines to patients, and a total of 2.5 billion rubles were allocated for this purpose. We should also add that in 2022, to solve the problem with the shortage of drugs, the authorities gave the State Unitary Enterprise "State Pharmacies of the Komi Republic" the functions of a single operator for the centralized purchase of medicines and provision of medicines to beneficiaries, and in 2025, Prosecutor Nikolai Egorov pointed out that the purchase of medicines and medical products from a single supplier "does not allow to save money".
At the beginning of 2024, the region also had serious problems with deferred prescriptions - 5,700 of them had accumulated. The authorities recognized that the cause was a failure in the conclusion of contracts with suppliers by the Ministry of Health of the region. The deficit was then managed to be eliminated only by spring.
"Izvestia" sent an inquiry to the Komi Republic's deputy head and the Ministry of Health of the region about whether the problems of the previous years and this year are related to each other, and why it was not possible to quickly eliminate the problems in "manual mode". At the time of publication of the material, no answers have been given. The editorial board will continue to follow the situation in the region.
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