Tiago Petinga / Lusa
Fernando Araujo
Medicine prescriptions and requests for exams and analyzes and other complementary means of diagnosis and therapy will now be valid for 12 months.
According to Publicthe measure, which takes effect from Saturday, aims to avoid unnecessary trips to health centers and ease the bureaucratic burden on physicians. Public, private and social sector providers have 90 days to adapt the systems.
The Ministry of Health reported that in the case of the National Health Service (SNS) “the expectation is that the adaptation of the computer systems will be operational” during the next week.
The maximum period for prescriptions for medicines and prescriptions for examinations and analyzes was six months, forcing users with chronic illnesses to ask doctors for their renewal at least every half year.
The executive director of the SNS, Fernando Araujohad already pointed out that this measure is a example of debureaucratization. This measure had already been requested by family doctors for many years.
The extension of validity periods applies to all types of prescriptions and credentials (dematerialized and printed).
Paper receipts can be renewable, containing up to three copies, indicating 1st copy, 2nd copy or 3rd copy, which are valid for 12 monthsstarting the term from the day they are issued.
ZAP // 
