Portugal
PT
Healthcare System
Portugal operates the SNS (Serviço Nacional de Saúde — National Health Service), established in 1979 after the Carnation Revolution. It is a Beveridge-model, tax-funded universal system providing comprehensive care to all legal residents. Portugal is notable for adopting ICD-10-CM (US Clinical Modification) in 2017 — replacing ICD-9-CM — making it the only EU country using the US coding standard rather than the WHO base ICD-10 or a European national modification. This creates direct code-level compatibility with US medical records but diverges from standard EU ICD-10 practice.
- System Type
- Universal single-payer (Beveridge model)
- Regulatory Body
- INFARMED (Autoridade Nacional do Medicamento e Produtos de Saúde, I.P.) — drug and medical devices. Entidade Reguladora da Saúde (ERS) — healthcare provider regulation. Ordem dos Médicos (OM) — physician licensing (Cédula Profissional). EMA for centralized EU approvals.
- Data Protection
- GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation) + Lei n.º 58/2019 (Portuguese GDPR implementation law). Supervisory authority: CNPD (Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados). Health data classified as special category data under GDPR Art. 9.
- Currency
- EUR
- Emergency Number
- 112
- Languages
- pt
Coding Systems
diagnosis
ICD-10-CM
Portugal adopted ICD-10-CM (US Clinical Modification) in January 2017 — the same version used in the United States. This replaced ICD-9-CM used in Portugal since the 1990s. Portugal is the ONLY EU member state using ICD-10-CM; all other EU countries use ICD-10 WHO base or a national modification (DE: ICD-10-GM, FR: CIM-10-FR). ICD-10-CM codes are directly compatible between PT and US records, requiring zero code conversion. However, the clinical context, drug names, and system descriptions require full translation.
procedures
ICD-10-PCS
Portugal adopted ICD-10-PCS (US Procedure Coding System) in 2017, simultaneous with ICD-10-CM. Again, the only EU country using the US procedure coding system. ICD-10-PCS codes from Portuguese hospital records map exactly to US records. Replaces the previous ICD-9-CM volume 3 procedure codes used in Portugal before 2017.
drg
GDH (Grupos de Diagnóstico Homogéneo) using AP-DRGs
Portugal uses GDH (Grupos de Diagnóstico Homogéneo — Homogeneous Diagnostic Groups) for hospital payment. Based on AP-DRG (All Patient DRG) methodology, similar to the US system. DRGs are updated annually by ACSS (Administração Central do Sistema de Saúde). Uses ICD-10-CM/PCS as input. Published in Portaria (ministerial decree) annually.
dental
FDI (ISO 3950)
FDI two-digit notation (Fédération Dentaire Internationale) standard throughout Portugal. No national dental coding system distinct from FDI. Dental procedures coded per ACSS tariff schedule for public SNS; private: own nomenclature.
drugs
INFARMED registration number (AIM — Autorização de Introdução no Mercado) + ATC classification
All medicinal products must be registered by INFARMED (Autoridade Nacional do Medicamento e Produtos de Saúde, IP) — the Portuguese Medicines and Health Products Authority. Products receive an AIM number. EMA centralized procedure products automatically valid in Portugal. Portuguese drug names often follow EU INN (International Non-proprietary Name) conventions, differing from US brand names. ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) classification used for formulary and prescribing. National reimbursement formulary (Formulário Nacional de Medicamentos) defines SNS co-payment tiers.
Translation Corridors
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