Proportion of primary care practices using electronic medical records, 2021: 99%
Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a sharp increase in the use of remote consultations to maintain access to healthcare services. The share of teleconsultations rose significantly in Spain between 2019 and 2020 (from 4 % to 31 %). In 2020, this share was more than 1.5 times the EU average of 20 % (Figure 15). This rapid growth continued after the first year of the pandemic, and in 2021 the share of teleconsultations with doctors in Spain was 39 %. In December 2021, the Ministry of Health released the Digital Health Strategy (Ministry of Health, 2021) to improve population health and reinforce the SNS by harnessing digital technologies and building digital capabilities (see Section 5.3).”
Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2023), Spain: Country Health Profile 2023, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.
“With regard to patient information, Law 19/2013 on transparency, access to public information and good governance, and its general application to public institutions, clarified and improved access rights to public information (updating existing regulation), facilitating ulterior developments, for example in the case of data sharing. On the other hand, specific to the health sector, RDL 9/2011 aiming at increasing coordination and cohesion across the SNS [Spanish National Health Service], as well as improving quality, defined the timeline for the implementation of an interoperable Health Identity Card throughout the territory, the data-sharing mechanisms for electronic medical records (EMRs), and the widespread use of electronic prescriptions. Currently at an advanced stage of implementation, the so-called patients’ Abridged EMR is accessible in 15 of the 17 ACs (MSSSI, 2016f ).
“Details on what type of information patients have access to and how accessible the information is are summarized in Table 2.2. Usually, the information is placed in accessible institutional websites, using static documents and interactive tools. Lastly, information to foreign patients who do not speak any of the official languages in Spain (see Section 1.1, Geography and sociodemography) may benefit from the mediation and interpretation services provided by third parties (for example, not-for-profit organizations, nongovernmental organizations or municipalities).”
Source: Bernal-Delgado E, García-Armesto S, Oliva J, Sánchez Martínez FI, Repullo JR, PeñaLongobardo LM, Ridao-López M, Hernández-Quevedo C. Spain: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2018;20(2):1–179.
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Page last updated March 24, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.