Digital Health Businesses in Limbo Amid Implementation Delays and Insurance Hurdles, Joint Session of Nasr Tehran and E-Commerce Association

At a joint press conference held this morning by the Digital Health Commission of the Tehran Province Computer Guild Organization and the Tehran E-Commerce Association, focusing on challenges facing digital health businesses, delays in issuing executive regulations for online medication delivery, non-enforcement of the Facilitation Committee's ruling on home laboratory testing platforms, and insurance problems faced by these businesses were among the main issues raised […]

The joint press conference of the Digital Health Commission of the Computer Trade Union Organization of Tehran Province and the Tehran E-Commerce Association was held this morning with the focus on examining the challenges of digital health businesses. The delay in the notification of the executive rules of online drug delivery, the non-implementation of the Facilitation Committee's decision about the activity of laboratory platforms at home and the insurance problems of these businesses were among the most important issues raised in this meeting. The attendees also emphasized the necessity of legal follow-up of demands, implementation of approvals, and strengthening of cooperation between trade unions to remove obstacles to business activities in this field.

According to ICT News, Mehdi Khodadadi, the head of Digital Health Commission of Computer Trade Union Organization of Tehran province, in the joint press conference of this commission and the Electronic Commerce Association, referring to the status of the regulation of online drug delivery and criticizing the delay in the implementation of the regulation of online drug delivery, said: despite the passage of more than a year since the formulation of this regulation, its implementation rules have not been announced and this situation has faced uncertainty for businesses active in this field.

The head of Tehran Digital Health Commission, Nasr, explained: Despite drafting regulations and making amendments to them, these regulations have not been implemented since October of last year. Also, with the passage of this period, the working group responsible for drafting executive regulations held only one meeting and the next meeting has not been held.

Criticizing the process of drafting the executive rules, he added: In the regulations, the general activities of online drug delivery businesses are specified, but the determination of the executive rules has been entrusted to a working group that includes representatives from the Food and Drug Organization, the Ministry of Communications, and the private sector. However, the process of holding meetings and advancing the work has been such that activists in this field are still in a state of uncertainty.

Pointing to the disagreements about the limits of the powers of the Food and Drug Organization, Khodadadi clarified: the Food and Drug Organization is responsible for specialized regulation in the field of health and must comment on the rules of the drug supply and distribution chain, prescription and technical and health-oriented requirements, but determining the rules related to the business model, the way platforms contract with pharmacies and how they generate income are different issues that must be examined within the framework of the laws and the limits of the authorities.

He continued: If the law does not provide specific authority for an agency, it is not possible to enter into private sector contractual relations by simply relying on executive regulations. According to Khodadadi, regarding the issue of laboratory services at home, in response to the inquiry, the presidential legal assistant emphasized the restriction of the government's entry into private sector relations in cases without legal permission.

The head of the digital health commission of the Computer Trade Union Organization of Tehran Province criticized the way of dealing with online drug delivery businesses and said: In the circumstances that the executive regulations have not yet been announced, some businesses are being pressured by the Food and Drug Organization citing the same issue. From our point of view, the delay in determining the task of regulations should not become a tool to limit the activities of businesses.

Follow up on the implementation of the Facilitation Committee's decision about laboratory services

In another part of his speech, referring to the decision of the Digital Economy Business Facilitation Committee regarding the platforms that provide home laboratory services, Khodadadi said: despite the approval of the business license for these businesses in the National License Portal in May 1404, the Social Security Organization did not comply with the implementation of the requirements related to this license, and this issue caused the matter to be referred to the Facilitation Committee for handling.

Emphasizing the necessity of implementing the issued decision, he added: We expect that a joint meeting will be held to review the solutions for the implementation of the decision, and the Ministry of Communications will follow up its implementation according to the foreseen mechanism. In the executive regulations related to the facilitation committee, the mechanism for facing objections to the implementation of the issued votes is specified, and in case the vote is not implemented, legal channels should be used to pursue the issue.

Khodadadi stated that following up on the implementation of the decision is on the commission's agenda, and continued: Issuing a decision alone is not enough and what is important is its implementation and removing the obstacles that disrupt business activities. The relevant agencies are expected to implement the legal requirements without further delay.

Referring to the economic conditions of the country and the pressures on businesses, he said: Digital economy activists work in difficult conditions and the existing restrictions and pressures have affected them enough. In such a situation, we should not create more problems for businesses by creating internal barriers and prolonging administrative processes.

The head of the Digital Health Commission of Computer Trade Union Organization of Tehran province also emphasized that following up on the implementation of the Facilitation Committee's decision and determining the task of online drug delivery rules is one of the important issues in this field, and solving these issues can help to reduce the uncertainty of digital health businesses and provide a basis for their activities within the framework of the law.

In the continuation of this meeting, Maryam Najafi, the secretary of the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association, emphasized the need to expand cooperation between trade unions and said: the complexity of business challenges and the commonality of many of their issues has increased the necessity of trade unions' coordination and joint pursuit of demands in interaction with executive bodies and policy-making bodies more than in the past.

Pointing to the importance of cooperation between active organizations in the digital economy, he stated: Considering the difficult conditions that businesses have been facing in recent years, the need for cohesion and joint actions among trade organizations is felt more than in the past.

He added: The cooperation between the Digital Health Commission of the computer trade union organization of Tehran Province and the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association can show that by coming together with trade unions, it is possible to find solutions to common problems and challenges, and more effective results can be achieved in interaction with executive bodies and policy-making institutions.

The secretary of Tehran Electronic Trade Association continued by pointing out that the development of trade union cooperation is on the agenda of this association: many challenges of businesses are not limited to a specific field or organization. Therefore, instead of scattered measures, it is necessary for organizations to follow up on common demands with greater coordination and to have a single and more effective voice in expressing digital economy issues.

Announcing the readiness of Tehran Electronic Commerce Association to cooperate with other organizations, Najafi said: We invite trade unions to work together to solve the common challenges of businesses. We hope that cooperation with the Digital Health Commission will be a starting point for the formation of an effective model in trade union interactions and will provide the basis for more extensive and effective measures in the field of digital economy.

In the end, he thanked the attendees of the meeting and expressed his hope that with the help of the media and the greater cooperation of the trade unions, the demands of the digital economy activists will be conveyed to the audience and decision-making bodies with a more expressive and effective voice.

Ahmad Taheri, the head of the Digital Health Commission of Tehran E-commerce Association, also mentioned the challenges of digital health businesses and said: Activists in areas such as online drug delivery, providing laboratory services at home and online visits are facing various issues in interacting with governing bodies and legislators, which in some cases have severely affected the activities of these businesses.

Explaining the formation process of platforms that provide laboratory services at home, he added: These businesses started their activities about eight to nine years ago, before the Corona epidemic, and expanded during the Corona era. However, from the years 1400 and 1401, they faced several challenges, especially in relation to insurances; Problems that made it difficult to continue their activities.

Taheri continued: Following these problems, negotiations and expert meetings were held with the officials of the Social Security Organization, other insurances and the Ministry of Health to define the activity license of online businesses providing laboratory services in the national license portal. This license was finally approved and registered in May 1404, but the approval of the license did not lead to the removal of obstacles to the activities of these businesses.

Referring to the role of insurances in this process, the head of Digital Health Commission of Tehran Electronic Commerce Association said: insurances pay part of the cost of laboratory services, and limiting the relationship between insurance and laboratories can affect the cooperation of laboratories with online platforms. According to him, this issue was one of the obstacles that continued to put pressure on the platforms despite the approval of the license.

Stating that the issue was referred to the Digital Economy Business Facilitation Committee in November 1404, he added: After holding several expert meetings and despite the lengthy proceedings, the final decision of the committee was issued on August 27, 1405. In this vote, the activities of businesses providing online laboratory services have been recognized and the validity of their activities has been emphasized.

In another part of his speech, Taheri considered the cooperation between trade unions as a solution to increase the effectiveness of pursuing the demands of digital health businesses and said: the structure of the health system and the multiplicity of decision-making, policy-making and executive institutions in this field complicates the issues. In such a situation, the existence of different views and interests can prolong the process of solving problems.

He added: If each organization with a different literature and approach pursues a common issue from a separate path, this difference in the way of expressing the demands may make the proceedings more difficult. For this reason, we decided to pursue the negotiations and plan the demands in a more coherent way with more cooperation and coordination.

Referring to the experience of cooperation in the field of laboratory services, the head of the digital health commission of the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association stated: In this context, we held joint meetings and the existing experiences in interacting with the devices were used so that the negotiations and follow-ups could be done in a more coordinated manner. I believe that this collaboration has had positive results and can continue in other areas of digital health.

Referring to issues related to online drug delivery as well as areas such as online visits and online appointments, Taheri said: Our effort is to form a common approach in following up on the issues of these sectors so that the demands of businesses can be raised more coherently and prevent the process of solving problems from being prolonged.

He emphasized that the experience of cooperation between the Digital Health Commission of the Computer Trade Union Organization of Tehran Province and the Electronic Trade Association of Tehran can lay the groundwork for wider interactions between trade unions and more effective pursuit of common challenges of the digital economy.

Objection to the implementation of the Facilitation Committee's decision

In another part of this meeting, Ruhollah Rahbarpour, head of the legal and regulatory committee of the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association, referring to the legal mechanisms for implementing the decisions of the Facilitation Committee, said: One of the follow-up paths is to refer the issue of the official's refusal to implement the decision to the relevant authority in the judiciary. In this context, the deputy of cyber space of the Prosecutor General's Office is present as a representative of the judiciary in the relevant mechanism.

He added: Another possible solution is to refer to the Court of Administrative Justice. Based on Article 10 of the Law on Organizations and Procedures of the Court of Administrative Justice, it is possible to pursue the issue of refusal of the administrative authority to perform legal duties within the framework of the legal powers of this court.

Rehbarpour continued by emphasizing the necessity of implementing the issued votes: when the legal authority has decided about the activity of a business, the relevant institutions must act within the framework of the law. If the vote is not implemented, it is possible to use legal and regulatory capacities to pursue the matter. It is also possible to follow the issue through regulatory and judicial authorities, including the National Inspection Organization.

In another part of his speech, the head of the legal and regulatory committee of the Tehran E-Commerce Association, referring to the continuation of disagreements about the activity of online laboratory platforms, said: One of the issues raised in this field is the issue of induction testing; However, disagreements about this issue should not prevent the implementation of legal requirements and determining the status of business activities.

He emphasized that legal pursuit and the use of legal mechanisms can help to clarify the responsibility of the institutions and implement the decisions of the competent authorities.