Greece

Healthcare System

Greece operates the ESY (Εθνικό Σύστημα Υγείας — National Health System), established in 1983. EOPYY (Εθνικός Οργανισμός Παροχής Υπηρεσιών Υγείας — National Organization for Healthcare Services Provision) manages the health insurance function, created in 2011 by merging several occupation-based sickness funds (IKA, OAEE, OGA and others). ESY public hospitals provide most inpatient care; private clinics and polyclinics (ιδιωτικές κλινικές) provide an extensive private sector. Greece is an EU member state subject to EMA centralized drug approvals.

System Type: Universal public (Beveridge model) with significant private sector
Regulatory Body: EOF (Εθνικός Οργανισμός Φαρμάκων) — National Medicines Organization; drug authorization, pharmacovigilance. ΕΣΔΥ (Εθνική Σχολή Δημόσιας Υγείας) — National School of Public Health; epidemiology and health data. HDPA (Αρχή Προστασίας Δεδομένων Προσωπικού Χαρακτήρα — Hellenic Data Protection Authority) — GDPR implementation. EMA for centralized EU approvals.
Data Protection: GDPR (EU) + Law 4624/2019 (Greek GDPR implementation) + HDPA (Αρχή Προστασίας Δεδομένων Προσωπικού Χαρακτήρα — Hellenic Data Protection Authority)
Currency: EUR
Emergency Number: 112 (general), 166 (EKAB ambulance)
Languages: el

Coding Systems

diagnosis

ICD-10 (WHO)

ICD-10 WHO standard used in Greek healthcare. ESDY (Εθνικό Σύστημα Δεδομένων Υγείας) uses ICD-10 for hospital reporting and mortality statistics. Greek translation available; codes identical to WHO base (4-character). No country-specific extensions (unlike ICD-10-GM or ICD-10-CM).

dental

FDI (ISO 3950)

FDI two-digit notation standard across all Greek dental practices, both public and private. Greece has no separate dental coding system.

procedures

KEN-DRG / ΕΟΠΥΥ outpatient codes

KEN-DRG (Κλειστά Ενοποιημένα Νοσήλια — Closed Unified Hospital Fees): DRG-based hospital reimbursement system introduced 2012, based on AP-DRG v.21. Used for EOPYY inpatient reimbursement. Outpatient procedures: EOPYY maintains its own coding catalog (Κατάλογος Πράξεων) for contracted outpatient services. No nationally standardized procedure classification equivalent to CPT/OPS.

drugs

EOF registration / ATC / EAN

EOF (Εθνικός Οργανισμός Φαρμάκων — National Medicines Organization) is the competent authority for drug authorization. Drugs classified by ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) code for reimbursement. Galinos database (Γαληνός) is the primary drug reference used by Greek physicians and pharmacists. Barcode (GS1) used for pharmacy dispensing. E-prescription (ηλεκτρονική συνταγή) mandatory since 2012 via ΗΔΙΚΑ system.

Translation Corridors

GR→DE (Greek workers in Germany — ESY records for German GKV or private insurer) GR→AU (Greek-Australians with Greek medical history for Australian Medicare/private insurance) GR→US (Greek-Americans with Greek medical records) GR→CY (Greece-Cyprus: shared language, shared medical terminology) AL→GR (Albanian workers in Greece — Albanian records for EOPYY) GR→GB (Greeks in UK post-Brexit — NHS registration)

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