Is the electronic patient information leaflet just as effective as the paper version? e-PIL pilot project evaluation

date: 18/07/2019

Last year, the e-PIL pilot project on the electronic patient information leaflet started. Hospital pharmacists will soon receive a link to an online survey to evaluate the project, one year after its start.

In the e-PIL project (electronic Patient Information Leaflet), certain medicines in Belgium and Luxembourg will no longer have a paper patient information leaflet. The patient information for these medicines will now only be found on controlled websites. The pharmaceutical industry started the pilot project in 2018 in hospitals in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Periodic evaluation

Pharma.be, the general association of the pharmaceutical industry, is performing online surveys to evaluate the pilot project. A first survey took place when the project started. Now a second survey is on its way, one year after the start of the project. Hospital pharmacists will receive it shortly. A third survey is planned two years after the start of the project.

e-PIL: objective of the project

With the e-PIL project, the pharmaceutical industry wants to show that patients and medical professionals in a hospital environment do not necessarily need the traditional paper patient information leaflet to get information on how to safety and effectively use medicines. This can be done just as effectively by using the electronic patient information leaflet. You can already find the patient information leaflets of all medicines licensed in Belgium in pdf format on the FAMHP’s website. 

Last updated on 31/07/2019