Another step forward in the interoperability of European electronic prescriptions

The Department of Health and the Council of Pharmacists’ Associations of Catalonia, with the support of the TIC Salut Social Foundation, is promoting the project for the deployment of cross-border eHealth services in Spain, which has just reached a new milestone: connecting Catalonia with other European Union countries to dispense medicines.

The project envisages dispensing medicines to pharmacies in Catalonia prescribed in other European countries and vice versa.

Now, after several developments to adapt the information system to the new functionality and after passing a European audit —with over 95% compliance— Catalonia’s system has now been approved. To achieve this, test sessions were successfully carried out with several European countries.

The interoperability of European electronic prescriptions has been a reality in Spain since 28 July. This service will initially be available for Portugal and the autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, Extremadura and Madrid. The rest of the territories will be included in the following phases. It is also planned to expand interoperability to other countries —Estonia, Croatia and Finland— in the coming months.

The collaboration of the network of pharmacy offices in Catalonia with the health authorities has been key in driving this project forward. Once again, this demonstrates their willingness to adapt to new needs and improve quality and safety in the dispensing of medicines to the population.

Dispensing and procedure portal for professionals and patients

A specific dispensing portal has been enabled for electronic dispensing to patients from other European countries. Training has been given to Catalan pharmacists to ensure that all pharmacy offices are familiar with the European interoperability procedure.

See the following links for more information about this project:

https://catsalut.gencat.cat/ca/serveis-sanitaris/atencio-farmaceutica/recepta-electronica/la-recepta-electronica-i-els-desplacaments/europa/

https://health.ec.europa.eu/ehealth-digital-health-and-care/electronic-cross-border-health-services_es

https://canalsalut.gencat.cat/ca/actualitat/notes-premsa/nota-premsa/?id=443122

https://www.sanidad.gob.es/profesionales/recetaElectronicaSNS/miSaludUE/home.htm