Using your prescriptions when you move between regions

Terms used

• Tarjeta sanitaria — The tarjeta sanitaria is your public health card, which you show at health centres and pharmacies.
• Receta electrónica — The receta electrónica is the electronic prescription stored in the public health system and read by pharmacies.
• Visado — The visado is prior approval by the health service that some medicines need before they are funded.
• Mutualidad — A mutualidad is a mutual insurance scheme, mainly for civil servants, with its own prescriptions and health coverage.

Key rules

• Public prescriptions: An active public electronic prescription can be collected in any region with your health card.
• Exceptions: Some mutualidad and private prescriptions, and certain controlled medicines, may not work outside the issuing region.
• Co-payment: Your home region's co-payment rules apply when you collect medicine in another region.
• Regional rules: Funding, exemptions and visado rules vary by region, so ask your regional health service.

Your prescription travels with you

If you use the public health system and have an active electronic prescription (receta electrónica), you can collect it at a pharmacy in any other region. Show your tarjeta sanitaria. The pharmacist pulls up your pending medicines through a national link between the regions.

All regions are connected. The exceptions are some mutualidad prescriptions and private prescriptions, which may not work outside the region that issued them. Ask your doctor or insurer before you rely on them.

Where it can fail

Some prescription types may not work in another region. Certain controlled medicines are the usual example. Ask your doctor before you move whether any of your medicines fall into this group. If one does, plan to get it in the region where it was prescribed, or have your new doctor issue a new prescription.

What you pay

Medicine is dispensed under the co-payment rules of your home region, the one that holds your health record. Co-payment rules are set nationally, but regions can add their own funding and exemptions. The Basque Country and Galicia, for example, have offered extra help or lower caps. Catalonia once had a euro-per-prescription charge, which was suspended.

Regions also differ on generics, preferred prescribing, funding of extra items, and which drugs need prior approval (visado). A medicine that is approved easily in one region may need more paperwork in another. Once your health record moves to your new region, its rules apply to you.

How to find your new region's rules

Each region runs its own health service and app. Most let you see your prescriptions and appointments, and some let you renew treatments. Examples:

• Andalucía: Salud Responde and the Salud Andalucía app
• Catalonia: La Meva Salut
• Madrid: Tarjeta Sanitaria Virtual and the Cita Sanitaria app
• Valencia: GVA Salut+
• Galicia: Sergas Móbil
• Basque Country: Osakidetza
• Castilla y León: Sacyl Conecta
• Aragón: Salud Informa
• Navarra: Salud Navarra
• Murcia: Mi Salud
• Canarias: Canarias Salud

Other regions have similar apps. The Ministry of Health also offers a general view of your prescriptions.

Log in and check that your prescriptions show up. Then ask your regional health service, or your health centre, about local funding, exemptions and approval rules for your medicines. If the app does not let you renew a treatment, your health centre can tell you how.

Which service to use

Whether to keep using your home region's service for a while or switch to your new region's is covered in the decision below. The checklist and resource list below give the steps and the portals.

Choosing between options

Which regional rules should you check when your prescriptions move with you?

• Keep using your home region's service: You are travelling for a short time and your prescription is active: collect at any pharmacy and the home region's co-payment rules apply.

• Switch to your new region's service: You have moved and registered there: check its funding, exemptions, generics policy and approval (visado) rules for your medicines.

If you are only visiting, stay with your home region; if you now live in the new region, follow its health service's rules.

Checklist

• Check that your electronic prescription is active in the public system before you travel.

• Carry your health card (tarjeta sanitaria) to every pharmacy visit outside your home region.

• Ask your doctor whether any of your medicines, such as controlled ones, cannot be collected in another region.

• Find your new region's health service and its app, and check there that your prescriptions are visible.

• Ask your health centre how to renew treatments in your new region if the app does not allow it.

Regional health apps and portals for prescriptions

• Your regional health service: Find your region's app or portal, for example Salud Andalucía, La Meva Salut (Catalonia), Cita Sanitaria (Madrid), GVA Salut+ (Valencia), Sergas Móbil (Galicia), Osakidetza's Mi carpeta de salud (Basque Country), Sacyl Conecta (Castilla y León), Salud Informa (Aragón), Salud Navarra, Mi Salud (Murcia) or Canarias Salud.

• Your regional health portal: Sign in with Cl@ve (the national digital ID system) or an electronic certificate or DNIe. Many portals also accept your health card number with a username and password, or an SMS code, after you identify yourself online or in person.

• Your health centre: If you are a foreign resident, have your NIE and an active tarjeta sanitaria (health card) ready. Many portals also want your mobile number to be registered at your health centre.

• Ministry of Health, Mi Carpeta Sanitaria: Use Mi Carpeta Sanitaria with Cl@ve or a digital certificate to see your health data across regions. For your active prescriptions, your regional app or portal is still the main place to look. Prescriptions from private insurance do not show there.

Frequently asked questions

Can I collect my prescription at a pharmacy in another region?

Yes, you can collect an active public-system electronic prescription at a pharmacy in another region, if the prescription type is interoperable. Show your health card (tarjeta sanitaria) and the pharmacist retrieves your pending dispensings. Some prescription types, such as certain controlled medicines, may not be available this way.

Which co-payment rules apply if I buy medicine in another region?

The co-payment rules of your home region apply when you collect medicine in another region. Co-payment rules are set nationally, but regions can add their own funding and exemptions. Check your own regional health service for any extra help.

Will private prescriptions and mutualidad prescriptions work in other regions?

No, private prescriptions and some mutualidad prescriptions are not covered by the regional connection, so do not count on collecting them elsewhere. Ask your doctor or mutualidad before you travel. Public-system prescriptions are the ones linked across all regions.

Do regions differ on drugs that need prior approval?

Yes, regions can differ on the approval (visado) some drugs need and on which pharmacy programmes apply. If you take such a drug, ask your new regional health service before you move.