Croatia joins Finland in accepting Estonian digital prescriptions, Health and Welfare Information Systems Center (TEHIK) in Estonia hoping that more European countries will follow suit. 

"This is happening because Croatia has today put its national digital solutions in place, to ensure that the service also works across borders," Tõnis Jaagus, head of TEHIK's health service, said.

Twenty-three EU member states say they want to take part in cross-border prescription data sharing, with a pan-EU system likely on the horizon.

Tõnis Jaagus said this depended on access and availability of the various countries' digital health data, adding that Portugal should be next to accept Estonian digital prescriptions.

"Currently, citizens of Finland, Portugal and Croatia can buy their prescription drugs from Estonia; and Estonians will next gain the opportunity to buy digital prescription drugs in Portugal," Jaagus said.

Digital prescriptions are made available for cross-border sharing by default, without any special action required from the party issuing them, BNS reports, though those who do not want their prescriptions to be available for cross-border access for whatever reason can disable the facility via the patient portal.

Patient health data summaries, allowing availability of records abroad – including allergies, co-morbidities and other important data – and which can be more easily accessed by a doctor in the destination country is the next stage to be rolled out.

No direct flights between Croatia and Estonia are currently running; the country has a reported rate of over 77 coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants as of last Friday.

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