How to Get a Prescription Online in Portugal: A Guide

How an online consultation works if you are a foreigner

Portugal has a public health service, the SNS, and a large private sector that runs alongside it. Online consultations belong to the private sector, which means you do not need to be registered with the SNS or hold a número de utente (the SNS health user number) to book one. Private health providers, including telemedicine services, operate under the oversight of the Portuguese health regulator, ERS (Entidade Reguladora da Saúde).

The process is simple: you choose a time, pay a fixed fee, and join a secure video call with a doctor registered with the Ordem dos Médicos. You explain your situation, the doctor reviews your history and current medication, and decides what is clinically appropriate. That may be a prescription, a request for tests, advice, or a recommendation to be seen in person. None of these outcomes can be promised before the consultation takes place.

• No SNS registration is needed for a private video consultation
• Doctors are registered with the Ordem dos Médicos and consult in English
• You pay a fixed fee per consultation, with no subscription
• The doctor decides during the consultation whether a prescription is justified

What to prepare before the appointment

The single most useful thing you can bring is an accurate list of your current medication. Write down each medicine with its international (generic) name, the strength, and how often you take it. The generic name matters because brand names change from country to country: the box you buy at home may not exist in Portugal, but the active substance almost always does.

It also helps to have any relevant medical records or a letter from your usual doctor, even a photo of a previous prescription, plus a photo ID. If you have a NIF (the Portuguese tax number), have it at hand: clinics use it for invoicing, and the invoice is useful if you later claim on private or travel insurance. The doctor will also ask about allergies, other conditions, and, for some medicines, recent test results, so gather whatever you have.

• Your medication list with generic (international) names, doses, and frequency
• Any medical records, previous prescriptions, or a letter from your usual doctor
• Photo ID, and your NIF if you have one (mainly for the invoice)
• A note of your allergies and any other health conditions

The paperless prescription: codes instead of paper

Portugal uses an electronic prescription system called receita sem papel, literally paperless prescription. If the doctor issues a prescription, you do not receive a paper slip to carry around. Instead you receive a set of codes, typically by SMS, email, or as a PDF.

There are three elements to look for: the prescription number (the number on the Guia de Tratamento, the treatment guide), the Código de Acesso e Dispensa (access and dispensing code), and the Código de Direito de Opção (option code, related to your right to choose between equivalent medicines). At the pharmacy you show these codes, the pharmacist retrieves the prescription from the national system, and dispenses your medication.

Any pharmacy in Portugal can dispense a valid electronic prescription. You are not tied to a specific pharmacy, city, or chain, which is convenient if you are travelling between Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, or the islands.

Medication names are different here: focus on the active substance

A common moment of panic for newcomers is being handed a box with an unfamiliar name. In most cases it is the same medicine under a different brand, or the generic version. Portuguese pharmacies commonly dispense generics, labelled by the active substance, and prescriptions are generally written by active substance too.

This is why your medication list should use international names. If you tell the doctor you take a brand name from your home country, they will identify the active substance and check whether it is available in Portugal, in what strengths, and under what conditions. If an exact equivalent does not exist, the doctor may discuss an alternative with you. The pharmacist can also answer questions about the box you receive; medicines information in Portugal is regulated by INFARMED, the national medicines authority.

Limits: what may not be prescribable online

Telemedicine has boundaries, and it is better to know them before you book. Certain classes of medicine, in particular some controlled or psychotropic substances, are subject to stricter prescribing rules and may not be prescribable in a remote consultation. If your medication falls into a restricted category, the doctor will explain the situation and point you to the right route, which may be an in-person appointment.

The doctor may also decline to prescribe when they cannot safely assess you by video, when recent test results are needed first, or when the request is not clinically justified. This is not a failure of the service; it is the doctor doing their job. A responsible consultation sometimes ends with a plan rather than a prescription.

What you will pay at the pharmacy

The consultation fee and the cost of the medication are separate. In Portugal, the state contributes part of the price of many medicines (a system called comparticipação), but that contribution is generally tied to your status: being an SNS beneficiary, or being covered by a Portuguese health subsystem or insurance. It does not depend on whether the prescription came from a public or private doctor.

If you have no SNS-beneficiary status, expect to pay the full pharmacy price. Your situation may differ if you hold a European Health Insurance Card, are covered by a bilateral agreement, or have private or travel insurance that reimburses medication, so keep the pharmacy receipt and the clinic invoice. Either way, the prescription itself is dispensable at any Portuguese pharmacy.