The 18th National Conference on Hospital Pharmacy took place from 18 to 20 October 2024, at the Grand Hotel “Astoria” in Sofia. The theme of the event was “Innovations and Challenges in Hospital Pharmacy in Bulgaria.” The program included presentations on current and future therapeutic approaches for various diseases, discussions on the role of the pharmacist in hospital and clinical pharmacy, and the fourth national competition for students “Become a Hospital Pharmacist”.
In the first scientific session of the forum, Ms. Illiana Paunova, Executive Director of BgMVO, gave a lecture on “Interoperability of the Medicines Verification System with National Health Information System. Implementation in Hospital Pharmacies.” Participants were introduced to the process of medicines verification in Bulgaria in relation to the requirements for integrating systems in healthcare and the NHIF’s requirement for reimbursement only of decommissioned medicinal products in hospital pharmacies. Ms. Paunova summarised the latest changes in the Law on Medicinal Products in Human Medicine, as well as the definition of a falsified medicinal product according to the European Directive. Data on alerts generated by hospital pharmacies this year and practical examples of transactions with expensive medicinal products and alert generation during status change or when attempting to dispense a commercial sample were presented. Basic recommendations for the stable functioning of the verification process in hospital pharmacies were given.
The lecture was followed with great attention by the audience. Participants showed particularly high interest in the specific examples of technical errors and potential falsifications, and numerous questions were asked about the necessary actions by hospital pharmacies.
The conference was attended by over 300 participants: hospital pharmacists from across the country, representatives of the Ministry of Health, BDA, university professors and students, manufacturers, distributors, and other healthcare professionals.