On average, more than 80 teleconsultations (totalling 30,074) were carried out daily in 2019, which allow the user to be seen by a doctor, through a computer or a mobile phone.

According to data from the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS), published on the SNS Portal, more than 100,000 teleconsultations were registered with the National Health Service from 2016 until 31 January, 2020.

Regarding the data presented, between 2016 and January 2019, the Matosinhos Local Health Unit stood out as the institution with the highest number of teleconsultations.

SPMS advances that, still in February, the teleconsultation activity will start in the Centro Hospitalar do Oeste and in the Hospital of Ovar and, at the end of the month, it is expected to start in the Centro Hospitalar Póvoa do Varzim - Vila do Conde.

In 2020, the “great challenge” is essentially the replacement of PDS Live for the new RSE Live, either in the real time activity of Health Professional - Health Professional, or in the Teleconsultas de Saúde Professional - Utente, from of the Citizen Area.

According to SPMS, the National TeleSaúde Centre has “contributed effectively to the development of telehealth in the Portuguese health system”.

Inserted in the health care reform, the CNTS integrates already existing organizational structures, in order to profit from the capacity of the national network of SNS units.

According to the SPMS, teleconsultations improve accessibility, taking the NHS to all citizens, which represents an asset for the entire health system.