In late December, the system recorded over 6 million e-prescriptions, issued and validated. According to the National Health Insurance Agency, classical prescriptions for subsidised medicine will only be validated for payment if they have been issued by December 31st, 2012 at the latest. Local insurance agencies will also operate an emergency service until January the 3rd, to provide information and settle any possible problems. During the same period, all physicians must have a sufficient number of offline pre-printed prescriptions to handle emergencies or problems such as Internet or power outages.

Offline electronic prescriptions will be as valid as online electronic ones, and pharmacies are bound to dispense the medication specified on both types of electronic prescriptions. The use of other formats is punishable under the law, the National Health Insurance Agency warns.

According to the authorities, electronic prescriptions improve the quality of healthcare services, in that the electronic system may identify prescription errors and may warn the issuer that a particular drug is not recommended for a particular condition. The shift to electronic prescriptions is an important step forward for the Romanian healthcare system, which had been using handwritten or printed prescriptions prior to July 1st. However, a lot is still to be done to reform this system, where underfinancing has prompted medical personnel to seek jobs abroad, leading to insufficient and low-quality services and to the closing down of some hospitals. And without substantial financial allocations, the situation in the Romanian healthcare system cannot improve.