2023-08-09 23:53:00
A resolution of AMONG officially attributed to a malicious software that hijacks sensitive information in exchange for a ransom the crash of its serverswhich for more than a week alters the rate of benefits to millions of retirees and pensioners in the country. As of this Thursday, as he was able to learn THE NATIONcould reissue electronic prescriptions and orders to temporarily correct the problems that the return to the use of paper and manual data upload is causing.
This is because, at the moment, there is no tentative technical estimate of how long it could take to resolve the intrusion, which was only made public last Wednesday. “Computer systems of the National Institute of Social Services for Retirees and Pensioners (Inssjp) have been violated as a result of a computer incident known as ransomware Rhysida”, reads the PAMI resolution of this Monday that bears the signature of its executive director, Luana Volnovich.
The organism He denied to this newspaper that he had received a ransom request after the attack, unlike what has been happening in other state and private areas in recent months. But, also, the first reaction of the organization with providers linked to its online platform was to deny the attack early last week. Instead, they argued that the difficulties were due to changing servers.
PAMI online services have been down since last Wednesday
The intrusion into the PAMI servers, in accordance with the official resolution, paralyzed the system for issuing electronic prescriptions and orders used by professionals who serve members, as well as the institution’s control, registration, dispensing and auditing of medicines (FarmaPAMI). The national drug and medical product traceability system of the National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (Anmat) because it is hosted on the servers of the social work.
“When a general practitioner prepares an electronic prescription, through the system he knows what drug exists in the country and is accepted for coverage,” explained one of the sources consulted. This prescription is automatically available at the pharmacy in the country that the member presents and with all the necessary data. This occurs through the FarmaPAMI system that the affiliate presents. This, with the paper recipe, is not happening and it is such a big problem because of the disaster of losing transactions.”
A temporary solution given the emergency would begin to be activated this Thursday: the professionals they would start using an external platforma (possibly from Fefara Federación Farmacéutica, one of the entities that represent pharmacies) for doctors to issue electronic prescriptions and orders.
Meanwhile, Anmat authorized the pharmaceutical and medical products industry to sell to drugstores, social works and institutions without entering the information into the national traceability system.
Luana Volnovich is the executive director of PAMISantiago Filipuzzi – LA NACION
On a tour of THE NATION by pharmacies, it was possible to verify that some affiliates of the social work were unable to access their medications in a timely manner due to the fall in online services, others did not receive the usual discounts and a third group had to go to the GP for get a paper recipe.
“I take medication for diabetes. Last week I went to look for it at the pharmacy because I had run out, but when I got there they couldn’t access my prescriptions because they had hacked the system,” said Eduardo G., 80 years old. He had to go to his family doctor’s office to have the prescription written on paper and then return to the pharmacy to be able to continue his treatment, which he had to interrupt due to a system failure: “I was without the medication for three days, but Once I handed in the physical prescription, they gave it to me regularly and at a discount,” he explained.
One of the employees of the Troilo pharmacy, located in Olivos, explained that due to the hack, doctors can no longer upload new prescriptions to the system, but he affirmed that PAMI members were able to withdraw their medications on a regular basis.
An Openfarma employee, in Vicente López, stated that there were many retirees who could not continue with their treatments, because they had to go back to their GP to get the prescription on paper and then return to the pharmacy to upload it to the system. to this.
“On Friday I have an appointment with the cardiologist, but since the system fell I had to go to have the shunt done by hand. So I went to see the doctor who had been assigned to me on August 1 and it turned out that she was no longer treating me because of PAMI, so I had to go to the branch where they referred me to a doctor who made the referrals by hand. The care was good, but while I was there, people with problems kept arriving, one after another,” said María Cristina Bondarchuk, 72.
“I went to the usual pharmacy on Thursday the 3rd, and they told me that the PAMI system had been hacked. What if it was a previous load [de la receta digital] The purchase could be made, but the 100% discount on the medications was not respected, they gave everyone 50%, I took them the same and paid $15,000. In other circumstances, these medicines were taken away for free, ”said Gabriela Radivozñuk, who is in charge of her 84-year-old father.
In addition, he recounted the difficult situation of his mother: “She had to get oncology orders, since she did not have a system, she could not present the electronic medical order, which enables her to be treated. The prescriptions were passed on paper, which will be accepted only if there is no system, if the conflict does not continue, the doctor must be returned to upload them to the system. This implies going to the lot in the morning to stand in line, waiting for it to be loaded for approximately three hours and starting the procedures again at the PAMI agency, to authorize continuity in chemotherapy treatment. And she lamented: “Therefore, we are hoping that it will not be fixed until it has the authorization.”
On the other hand, he said: “In the pharmacy, the employee told me that they received the orders in paper format, but that they could not keep them because they had no way of verifying that they were signed by a doctor belonging to PAMI.”
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