The system that makes it possible is RSD, run by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA). If you’re running a pharmacy in the Kingdom, getting RSD right keeps you compliant, protects your patients and protects your business. Here’s what you need to know.
What RSD is
RSD, from the Arabic رصد (“monitoring”), is the SFDA’s Drug Track and Trace System. Each pack carries a unique code, and every organisation that handles that pack reports what it did with it. That gives SFDA a clear picture of where every pack is, who has handled it and whether it has reached a patient.
SFDA put the system into effect in October 2018. It now covers every link in the chain: manufacturers, importers, warehouses, hospitals and pharmacies like yours.
Why it matters to you
RSD isn’t just another regulatory box to tick. It tackles problems that put your patients and your reputation at risk:
- Counterfeits: a fake pack has no valid code, or a code that’s already been used.
- Expired and recalled stock: a recalled batch can be blocked everywhere at once, including on your shelves.
- Diversion and smuggling: packs that leave the official chain show up as gaps.
- Shortages: SFDA can see stock levels across the country and act early.
How the code on each pack works
Every pack carries a GS1 DataMatrix, a small square 2D barcode. Inside it are four pieces of information:
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| GTIN | The product and pack size |
| Serial number | Unique to this one pack |
| Batch or lot number | The production run |
| Expiry date | When the pack expires |
The serial number is the clever part. No two packs of the same medicine ever share one, so each pack can be followed on its own journey.
Your business also needs a GLN (Global Location Number) for each of your sites, so SFDA knows exactly where each event took place.
What your pharmacy needs to report
Your RSD obligations follow the pack as it moves through your shop:
- Accept. When stock arrives from your supplier, you scan it and confirm receipt.
- Dispense. When a pack is sold to a patient, you report the dispense (RSD calls this a “pharmacy sale”). That pack can never be dispensed again.
- Return or transfer. Packs sent back to a supplier, or transferred to another pharmacy such as one of your own branches, are reported.
- Deactivate. Damaged, expired or recalled packs are taken out of circulation in the system.
That scan works in your favour, too. If a pack comes back as already dispensed, recalled or unknown, your pharmacist knows straight away not to sell it.
Keeping your counter moving
You can report to RSD through the SFDA portal, but let’s be honest: keying events in by hand just doesn’t work when you’re serving a queue of patients. The practical answer is software that reports to RSD automatically, as part of the work your team already does: scanning stock in at receiving and scanning packs at the till.
If you’re reviewing your options, ask four questions:
- Does it report accept, dispense, return and deactivate events, not just dispense?
- Does it read the full DataMatrix, including serial number and expiry?
- What happens if the connection drops in the middle of a busy shift?
- Can it handle multiple branches, each with its own GLN?
RSD made simple with HSA
With HSA, RSD becomes part of your normal routine instead of an extra job. Our pharmacy point of sale, EzPOS, and our warehouse and multi-branch inventory system, eInventory, are both integrated with RSD.
eInventory records receipts, transfers and returns automatically as stock moves between your suppliers, warehouse and branches. At the counter, EzPOS reports the dispense as part of the normal sale. Your pharmacists don’t need a second system or a second scan, so they can keep their attention where it belongs: on the patient in front of them.
Book a demo and we’ll show you RSD reporting on a live counter.