La rétrocession de médicaments par les hôpitaux : quels bénéfices pour les acteurs ?

Drug dispensation by hospital pharmacy to ambulatory patients commonly named “retrocession” is an old activity. At the end of the XXth century, this activity has increased and required control. New legal regulations regarding the classes of restricted prescription drugs and sale of the drugs for public by the hospitals were established by the decree of June 15th 2004. The legal frame was focused on the three main objectives: authorization system to exercise the retrocession, restriction regarding the number of drugs available in retrocession, and pricing control of these drugs. The stakeholders (healthcare insurance, hospitals, patients) were exposed to the important adaptations during the past seven years which followed the instauration of that new legal framework. Such analysis would give answers to the following questions. Does the retrocession weigh less on the healthcare insurance? Have the stakeholders adapted to the new organization? Do patients have better access to the drugs? The present system of retrocession is exceptional and particularly complex. It is likely to be questioned because of the difficulties in management that hospitals and healthcare insurance providers meet, whereas the benefits for patients are limited. It is important to take into consideration the elements of the intermediate analysis in order to anticipate the evolution of the system.