E-PIL wins over hospital practitioners

Does an electronic leaflet to replace the eight-fold leaflet in medicine boxes ring a bell? This is the E-PIL project, launched in 2018 by the Belgian pharmaceutical industry association (Pharma.be), supported by IML, hospital pharmacists and the Luxembourg Ministry of Health, and authorized by the European Commission. 

The “pilot” phase of this project, launched on August 1, 2018, has been extended until August 1, 2025. For the time being, a scheme has been deployed to hospital pharmacies only. The aim is to encourage its gradual adoption in hospitals. The E-PIL replaces the printed leaflet with a database containing identical information. 

Since June 2023, a total of 129 hospital-use products from 27 pharmaceutical companies have been included in the e-PIL pilot project. In total, at least 4,290,712 units have been sold over the course of the pilot project.

After 6 years (72 months), statistics from a satisfaction survey of professional users show encouraging results. The survey showed that the electronic leaflet is just as effective as the paper leaflet in providing information on the safe use of medicines by hospital pharmacists to healthcare professionals in their daily practice.

In 6 years, the survey has seen an increase from 72% to 97% of pharmacists consulting E-PIL on a daily basis. 

This increase testifies to the progressive and voluntary digitization of the hospital sector, which often lags behind other economic sectors that have already embraced this transition. In this sense, the E-PIL can be seen as a positive and inspiring step towards the digitization of the hospital sector.

97% of pharmacists would be in favor of removing the paper leaflet from the packaging of drugs reserved for hospital use. 100% of users confirm that patients very rarely ask hospital pharmacists for the paper leaflet. 100% of hospital pharmacists stated that the absence of the paper leaflet in the packaging did not cause any inconvenience in their daily practice, nor did it inconvenience doctors. 

Finally, according to 97% of hospital pharmacists, the absence of a paper insert did not cause any inconvenience for nurses.

Only 12 questions relating to the absence of paper leaflets were submitted by healthcare professionals to the participating pharmaceutical companies. 

The results of this pilot project could be used to support the modification of EU pharmaceutical legislation concerning the switch from paper leaflets to e-PIL, implemented through a phased approach, starting with the hospital.