The Health Insurance Organisation (HIO) has announced that a new feature enabling the display of a barcode for dispensing prescriptions will come into effect as of Friday, March 27, via the Beneficiary Portal.

Under the new system, beneficiaries will be able to obtain medicines, medical devices or healthcare products prescribed by their treating doctor from a pharmacy of their choice by simply presenting a barcode corresponding to their prescription through the portal.

Access to the feature is available through the Gesy website (www.gesy.org.cy). After logging into the Beneficiary Portal, users can locate the barcode by selecting “Available Referrals” and then the “Prescriptions” category.

When visiting a pharmacy, beneficiaries can present the barcode to the pharmacist, allowing the prescription to be executed without the need to disclose personal details.

The HIO said the new arrangement builds on the existing option of including a barcode on printed prescriptions and aims to further enhance the protection of beneficiaries’ personal data.

Beneficiaries may still request a printed prescription from their doctor, as is currently the case.

The organisation noted that access to the new feature requires users to have an active account on the Beneficiary Portal and to have linked it to their beneficiary record.

For guidance on linking accounts, users can visit the Gesy website or contact the Gesy call centre on 17000.