The Role of Telemedicine in Prescribing Medication in Spain: Findings From a Physicians’ Prescription Panel

OBJECTIVES: To explore the role of telemedicine in Spain through data on real-world prescriptions.

METHODS: Prescription data from IQVIA’s EPM (Estudio de Prescripciones Médicas) from February/2021 to March/2024 were analyzed. The EPM is a study conducted on a quarterly basis with a sample of 965 physicians, representing 0.5% of the universe. Prescription data are then extrapolated to the whole universe. The survey collects anonymized data on retail product prescriptions made by physicians to their patients, including data on the patient’s characteristics, type of consultation, prescribing physician, posology, and associated diagnosis. This study compares prescriptions from in-person medical consultations to those from virtual medical consultations (telehealth).

RESULTS: From February/2021 to March/2024, 13.6% of the prescriptions were made through telehealth. The share of telehealth prescription was higher between 02/2021-03/2022 (18.6%). Focusing on the last 12 months (02/2023-03/2024), most telehealth prescriptions were made in primary care (80.1% of all telehealth prescriptions). The specialties with a higher share of telehealth prescriptions were primary care (15.9% of prescriptions were made during virtual medical consultations), followed by endocrinology (9.7%), urology (9.5%), and paediatrics (8.8%). The share of telehealth prescriptions was similar for males (10.2%) and females (11.8%), and higher amongst patients aged 40 years old or above than in the younger ones, mostly due to the larger share of chronic diseases in the older population. In the last 12 months, 15.5% of prescriptions for chronic conditions were performed during virtual consultations while for acute conditions the share of telehealth prescription was only 5.5%. The share of telehealth prescriptions was also higher for long-duration treatments (16.6%).

CONCLUSIONS: In Spain, one in ten prescriptions for retail medication is made during virtual medical consultations. Primary care physicians’ resort to telehealth the most, mainly for populations with chronic conditions and long-term treatments.