MAX Messenger to Add Digital Prescriptions and Online Consent

Two million monthly users of medical services

According to the Ministry of Health, the medical services in MAX have 2 million monthly active users. The messenger already offers several functions:

• Booking doctor appointments, used by more than 21 million people.
• Notifications about electronic medical documents on the Gosuslugi portal, with 30 million unique users.
• Doctor-patient telemedicine consultations, with 5.1 million sessions held.
• Remote closing of sick leave, with 2.9 million documents issued after online consultations.

Why it matters

Murashko said the digital healthcare infrastructure, the compulsory health insurance system and drug provision should help Russians receive care on time and without organizational barriers. The next stage, he said, is integrating medical services into citizens' smartphones.

The ministry allowed sick leave to be closed remotely through MAX in February 2026. A patient can complete an online consultation with a doctor for this purpose. If sick leave needs to be extended or additional examination is required, the doctor can schedule an in-person visit. The change is meant to reduce the load on clinics and lower the risk of patients being reinfected.

Moving prescriptions and consent forms into the messenger would put more of the patient's path, from appointment to treatment, in a single app. How the prescriptions will work in practice remains unclear until the ministry announces details and a timeline.