SUREM: Panama's national e-prescription, what changes for doctors

SUREM in Panama: what Minsa announced on 12 November

Panama's Ministry of Health (Minsa) launched on 12 November 2026 the integration of the National Unified Electronic Prescription System (SUREM), which connects the prescribing systems of Minsa, the Social Security Fund (CSS) and the private pharmacies that join¹². An authorized health professional issues the prescription and it is stored in a national repository that affiliated pharmacies can access, so patients can collect their medicine without presenting a printed prescription¹.

Minister Fernando Boyd Galindo said the platform is already working and that the call to private pharmacies has begun²³. Uriel Pérez, Minsa's national director of Pharmacy and Drugs, explained that prescriptions are stored in "un repositorio nacional en el que se almacenarán las recetas emitidas por profesionales autorizados" (a national repository for prescriptions issued by authorized professionals)⁵. This comes in Panama three and a half months after Minsa said on 28 July that it aimed to have interoperable electronic prescriptions before year-end, at the Pan American Digital Health Roadmap conference organized by the IDB and PAHO⁷.

How the national e-prescription works for the physician

For the physician, the practical change is that the prescription stops being paper. According to the reports, the prescription generated by an authorized professional stays in the repository and the pharmacy retrieves it with the associated QR code or the patient's ID number, then dispenses "as prescribed"¹. Patients can even collect in another province if an integrated pharmacy exists²³. The system also promises to show medicine availability at affiliated facilities and nearby pharmacies³⁴.

The requirement on the professional is registration: health professionals and pharmacies alike "deberán cumplir con los procesos de registro y autorización establecidos" (must complete the established registration and authorization processes)³⁵. None of the reports details those processes, which documents are required or how long authorization takes¹²³. A private physician who already prescribes through other platforms cannot tell, from what has been published, whether to enroll again or in which system.

Minsa also said it will hand its technology tool to small pharmacies without a system of their own¹⁴. In practice, integrated and non-integrated pharmacies will coexist for a while: the patient "deberá acudir a una farmacia que esté incorporada al SUREM" (must go to a pharmacy that is part of SUREM)¹.

Background: the CSS Mi Receta Digital and the pharmacists' criticism

SUREM does not arrive on empty ground. On 11 May 2026 the CSS, through director Dino Mon, presented "Mi Receta Digital": the physician generates the prescription from an authorized platform, it is registered in the CSS system and the patient receives an email with a QR code and the pharmacy that has the medicine⁸. The CSS said then that paper and digital prescriptions would coexist during a transition⁸. Eight days later it reported about 250 private physicians had enrolled in the portal, with ID card, medical license registration and specialty certifications as requirements⁹.

On 17 June, CSS pharmacists told La Estrella de Panamá that SALMI (the medicine logistics system) and the SIS (Health Information System) run separately, without automated clinical alerts for duplication, interactions or wrong doses, with paper and electronic prescriptions coexisting and manual verification¹⁰. The article carries no CSS response and the sources are not named¹⁰. That is the warning that matters most when reading the SUREM announcement: a national repository solves access to the prescription, but on its own does not guarantee the system will flag two doctors prescribing the same thing.

Gaps that remain: legal basis, controlled medicines and interoperability

First, the legal basis. The announcement reports cite no law, decree or resolution behind SUREM¹²⁴⁵⁶. That does not mean none exists; it means none has been published in the sources reviewed. What is verified is the earlier framework: Law 203 of 18 March 2021 (Gaceta Oficial 29244-A) sets up in article 14 a "Sistema Digital de Recetas Médicas" for telemedicine, recognizes electronic signatures and requires in article 11 platforms with high interoperability and security standards¹². On what that law means for remote prescribers, see our note on telemedicine in Panama, and for the broader framework, the legal map of prescribing, importing and administering.

Second, controlled medicines. None of the reports consulted mention controlled medicines¹⁵⁶. As precedent, during the 2020 lockdown Minsa Resolution 277 authorized sending prescriptions by technological means, but for antibiotics and controlled substances the pharmacy had to print the prescription and the recipient write their name and ID on the back¹¹. From what is published, it is unknown whether that rule still applies or how it will work inside SUREM. Until Minsa clarifies, a physician prescribing a monitored medicine would be wise to confirm the applicable procedure in writing with the National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs.

Third, data. Law 81 of 2019 on personal data protection treats health data as sensitive¹³. A national repository holding the population's prescriptions raises questions the announcement does not answer: who operates the platform, who can query what and how access is audited³. For the physician there is also the traceability question: if the stated aim is to "fortalecer los controles sobre la prescripción y dispensación de medicamentos" (strengthen controls over prescribing and dispensing)³, that traceability reaches the prescriber too. On post-dispensing surveillance, see our pharmacovigilance note for Panama.

What to do today if you prescribe in Panama

• Ask your institution (Minsa, CSS or private clinic) whether your prescribing system is already integrated with SUREM and what registration is required³⁵.
• Do not assume the printed prescription is gone: the CSS itself said paper and digital would coexist⁸, and Minsa speaks of eliminating it "progresivamente"³.
• Check that your patient can dispense at an affiliated pharmacy; private participation is voluntary¹.
• If you prescribe monitored medicines, get written confirmation of the applicable procedure before leaving the current format¹¹.