Barcelona hospitals are among the first in Catalonia to start using electronic medical death certificates, as the region rolls out a new digital system in hospitals.
The move replaces a paper-based process and is meant to improve information quality, strengthen legal certainty and make coordination between institutions easier. It is led by Spain's Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, with support from the Catalan government's departments of Health and Justice and Democratic Quality.
The system is already working in at least one hospital in each of Catalonia's health regions. In Barcelona, that includes Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Other centres already using it include Hospital de Mollet, Hospital de Viladecans, Hospital Joan XXIII, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Manresa, Hospital Universitari d'Igualada, Hospital Universitari de Girona Doctor Josep Trueta, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Hospital Santa Maria, Hospital Jaume Nadal Meroles, and Hospital de Tortosa Verge de la Cinta.
Officials expect the rollout to reach all other centres during 2026. The electronic certificate lets healthcare professionals generate and digitally sign the document directly from clinical systems, building on the digital birth registration process already used in hospitals.
The certificate is then sent automatically to the relevant systems, which should cut bureaucracy for families at a difficult time. Catalonia records about 69,000 deaths a year, and the government says the change is a step towards more modern public administration and better care and administrative circuits.
Later phases will extend the system to primary care, socio-sanitary facilities and the Medical Emergency System, known as SEM. For more Barcelona public service updates, see our Community coverage.
Originally published by Europa Press Barcelona. Read original article.
