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Your doctor or dentist may prescribe a medicinal product or medicinal devices to you (such as bandages) following out-patient or in-patient treatment in Germany. You can present the prescription either in Germany or in another Member State.
Please ask your doctor or dentist where in Germany the medicinal products or medicinal devices which have been prescribed can be presented. This will be either a pharmacy or a medical supply store.
You initially have to pay the cost of the medicinal products or medicinal devices yourself when you are treated as a private patient. After returning to the country in which you live, your healthcare insurer will as a rule reimburse you the costs up to the price which you would have paid in the country in which you live. Should you have any questions as to the amount of the reimbursement, please contact your health insurance fund or the National Contact Point of the state in which you live.
As a matter of principle, you can present a prescription that has been issued in Germany for medicinal products or medicinal devices in another Member State. You should however inform your doctor or dentist in Germany of this. In this case, the prescription must satisfy certain requirements as to its contents.
Identity of the medicinal product prescribed where necessary
Please make sure that your doctor or dentist does not prescribe the package size designation when it comes to the quantity of the medicinal product to be stated. The package size designation in Germany is a standardised size for three package sizes with different numbers of tablets, capsules, suppositories, etc. It is abbreviated on the prescription to N1, N2 or N3. This standard size is unknown in other Member States. A doctor or dentist or pharmacist in another Member State cannot comprehend this quantity information, so that the prescription must state the precise quantity (e.g. 20 pieces).
Identity of the medicinal device prescribed, where necessary
If you present the prescriptions in the country in which you live, your healthcare insurer will as a rule pay or reimburse the costs that would have been incurred in case of a prescription issued by a healthcare provider (such as a doctor) in the country in which you live.
The procedure for the cross-border presentation of prescriptions from other Member States is still rather new. We therefore recommend you at the moment to present the medicinal products or medicinal devices prescribed by your doctor or dentist in Germany.
The following practical problems might occur when presenting a prescription which has been issued in Germany in the state in which you live:
