Latvia e-prescription services to face temporary EU-wide outage

Latvian residents traveling abroad will face temporary service interruptions for e-prescriptions and cross-border health data access on October 13. Technical upgrades to the European cross-border e-health data exchange platform are scheduled from 8:00 to 17:00, during which time medical facilities and pharmacies in participating EU member states will be unable to access Latvian e-prescriptions or patient health data from the E-health portal.

Currently, Latvian citizens can use e-prescriptions in several EU countries, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, and parts of Spain. Additionally, Latvia facilitates the exchange of basic health data with countries such as France, Malta, the Netherlands, and Portugal.

When using e-prescriptions in participating EU countries, users must present a valid identity document, such as a passport or eID card, to the pharmacist. Certain restrictions apply: medications containing psychotropic or narcotic substances, unregistered medicines, or those prescribed in free-text format cannot be obtained via this system abroad.