Portuguese medical union warns of administrative burdens in public hospitals

The Sindicato dos Médicos do Norte (SMN), part of the Federação Nacional dos Médicos, has warned that several public hospitals within the Portuguese National Health Service (SNS) are forcing doctors to perform administrative diagnostic coding tasks. This practice is reportedly being used to influence hospital funding, as local health units receive resources based on the reported morbidity and complexity of the population they serve.

The union claims this administrative burden is occurring in hospitals across Braga, Bragança, Gaia, Feira, Matosinhos, Porto, and Viana do Castelo. They argue that requiring doctors to assign alphanumeric codes to diagnoses diverts essential time away from patient care, particularly in emergency services and outpatient consultations.

The SMN emphasized that medical diagnoses must be based on clinical findings rather than financial incentives, stating that “no doctor can be pressured to assign, alter, or make a diagnosis more specific without clinical basis to meet the administrative or financial objectives of the institution.”