How hospital-dispensed medicines (dispensación hospitalaria) work

Terms used

• Dispensación hospitalaria — Dispensación hospitalaria is when a hospital pharmacy supplies a medicine to outpatients to take home, on a hospital specialist's prescription.
• Uso hospitalario — Uso hospitalario means a medicine is used only inside the hospital and is not handed to you to take away.
• Diagnóstico hospitalario — Diagnóstico hospitalario means a hospital specialist must diagnose you and prescribe the medicine, even if it may be sold elsewhere.
• CIMA — CIMA is the Spanish medicines agency's online database showing each medicine's prescription and dispensing conditions.

Key rules

• Where you collect: These specialist drugs come from the hospital pharmacy, not a retail pharmacy.
• Who prescribes: A hospital specialist prescribes them; a family doctor generally cannot start them.
• Foreign prescriptions: A foreign prescription is not enough; a Spanish public-system specialist must adopt the treatment and prescribe it.
• Collection interval: Hospital pharmacies usually supply outpatients every 1 to 3 months, with monthly collection common for new treatments.

The short version

Certain specialist drugs are supplied only through hospital pharmacies to outpatients, with periodic collection, on a hospital specialist's prescription. You do not buy them at a pharmacy on your street. You go to the hospital pharmacy, collect a supply to take home, and come back when it runs out.

This is called dispensación hospitalaria. The steps for collecting are in the process below, so this page covers what the system is and how it affects you.

Which medicines work this way

Each medicine's conditions of prescription and dispensing are fixed when it is authorised in Spain, and they apply in all regions. Typical examples are:

• cancer drugs, including oral ones
• biologics and monoclonal antibodies
• antiretrovirals for HIV
• hepatitis C antivirals
• multiple sclerosis drugs
• growth hormone
• drugs for rare diseases
• injectable immunosuppressants
• some long-acting injections for psychiatric conditions and some anticoagulants

Your specialist can tell you whether your medicine is on this route. You can also look up its record in the Spanish medicines agency's online database (CIMA), which shows its prescription and dispensing conditions. A medicine's category can change, so check the current record.

Three categories that sound alike

• Hospital use (uso hospitalario): the medicine is given inside the hospital, for example in a day hospital. You do not take it away.
• Hospital dispensing to outpatients: the hospital pharmacy hands it to you to take home and use yourself. This is the route this page is about.
• Hospital diagnosis (diagnóstico hospitalario): a hospital specialist must diagnose you and prescribe the drug. Some of these medicines can still be dispensed in ordinary pharmacies. Ask your specialist which applies to you.

Who prescribes

In the public system, a hospital specialist of the relevant service issues the prescription. A family doctor generally cannot start these treatments. Some treatments can be continued or renewed in primary care, depending on regional agreements, so ask your specialist.

Some drugs also need extra approval before you can collect, from a hospital committee or under a regional validation process.

A foreign prescription is not enough for public hospital pharmacy supply. A Spanish public-system specialist must adopt the treatment and prescribe it. If you arrive already on a specialist drug, book the specialist appointment early and bring your treatment records.

How often you collect

Hospital pharmacies usually supply outpatients every 1 to 3 months, with monthly collection common for new treatments. If your condition is stable, you may get a longer supply. Some hospitals offer home delivery or delivery to a local pharmacy. The hospital pharmacy sets the interval for you, and it varies by hospital, region and drug.

What to do next

1. Ask your hospital specialist whether your medicine goes through the hospital pharmacy.
2. Follow the step-by-step process below to collect it.
3. Plan your collections around the interval you are given, so you do not run out.

If you have only private health insurance, check the answer in the quick answers below.

Collecting hospital medicines step by step

• Get the prescription from your hospital specialist: At the consultation where the medicine is started

• Let the specialist send a request to the hospital pharmacy for restricted or high-cost drugs: Right after the prescription, before your first collection

• Wait for the treatment to be validated, including regional prior approval (visado) where the drug needs it: After the request and before the pharmacy registers you

• Check whether you need an appointment, a queue ticket or can walk in during opening hours: Before you go; a first collection is more likely to need a booking

• Bring photo ID (DNI, NIE or passport), your health card (tarjeta sanitaria) and any appointment message: On the day of collection

• If someone else collects, give them a signed authorisation, a copy of your ID and their own ID: Before the day of collection

• Collect the first supply and listen to the pharmacist's advice on use and storage: At your first visit

• Book the follow-up visit and collect later supplies: Every 1 to 3 months

Checklist

• Check that the prescription comes from a hospital specialist, because these drugs are not prescribed by a family doctor.

• Find out whether your medicine is for use inside the hospital only, such as in a day hospital, or is given to you to take home and self-administer.

• Look up your medicine's record in the Spanish medicines agency's online database (CIMA) to see its prescription and dispensing category, often marked as hospital use.

• Ask the specialist whether your drug needs hospital diagnosis only, because some of these medicines can be dispensed at a normal pharmacy.

• Plan to collect your medicine from the hospital pharmacy at regular intervals, not from a retail pharmacy.

Hospital medicine quick answers

Can someone else collect my hospital medicine for me?

Yes, a relative, carer or other person you name can usually collect it, if they bring a signed authorisation from you. They also need their own ID and a copy of your ID or health card. Some hospitals use their own form, and some regions offer home delivery or delivery to a local pharmacy or health centre.

How often do I collect hospital-dispensed medicines?

You usually collect every 1 to 3 months. Monthly is common for new treatments, and stable patients may get 2 to 3 months at once.

Can I get hospital-dispensed medicines with only private health insurance?

Generally no, because public hospital pharmacy supply is reserved for patients with a public-system prescription. A private hospital may supply them from its own pharmacy, paid by you or your insurer. You cannot buy hospital-only medicines at a normal pharmacy, and many policies cover them only partly.