The Social Security guarantees our society access to medicines authorized essential for health. However, not everyone is included in that list. That a medicine is covered by Social Security means that it is financed by the Ministry of Health and, consequently, its purchase will be cheaper.
It is important to keep in mind that if a drug is not subsidized, this does not mean that it is not authorized for marketing. What’s more, it may be funded only for a specific group of patients.
There is a way to know if the pharmacological treatment that our doctor has prescribed is covered by Social Security, and it is BIFIMED (Information search engine on the financing situation of medicines). This digital tool incorporated into the Ministry of Health website allows the user check if your medication is funded.
Furthermore, BIFIMED collects more detailed information about each medication, from the composition of each of its commercial preparations to the side effects, indications for use… However, we must take into account that this search engine only works when we enter the generic name of the medication, for example, paracetamol. Subsequently, the tool will collect all the brands of paracetamol available on the market and indicate whether they are financed or not.
Until now there was Nomenclator, a fairly similar search engine that brought together data on medications financed and marketed in pharmacies. This tool was updated monthly with price changes or other details. The difference with respect to this new search engine is that BIFIMED offers information on all medications, that is, both those that we can buy in pharmacies and those that are dispensed in hospitals.
As stated by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), this data is exported to Excel and allows the different types of search, such as “select those that are funded either in all or part of their indications; those that were funded and are no longer funded; get results for a chosen date range; introduce the brand (name) or active ingredient that allows up to four active ingredients for those medicines that combine several and mark the type of medicine (generic, orphan, biosimilar, biological).”
“In the case of the hospital drugs authorized in Spain, the citizen will now also be able to search for information about the indications for which they are financed, including some details about the specific agreements reached between Health and the laboratories for their commercialization (shared risk agreements, spending ceilings, etc.)” , explains the OCU.
In January of this year, Health carried out an update to the guide for dispensing medicines subject to medical prescription in which it allowed the health team nursing prescribe ibuprofen and paracetamol to treat fever. As detailed in the guide published in the Official State Gazette, this measure seeks to improve health care and guarantee comprehensive, quality care.
This aims to self-manage mild symptoms that do not lead to major consequences, always within the scope of nursing and nursing competencies. without excluding medical evaluation when necessary.
