Catalonia deploys electronic death certificates in hospitals, digitising a decades-old paper process
Fourteen hospitals across every health region in Catalonia now use electronic medical death certificates, a system the regional government is extending to all centres this year.
What is changing
Catalonia has begun rolling out the electronic medical death certificate in its hospitals, replacing a paper-based procedure that families and institutions have relied on for decades. The system allows a doctor to generate and digitally sign the document from the clinical interface, sending it automatically to the civil registry and other required endpoints. The Govern says the shift improves information quality, coordination among institutions, and legal certainty.
The pilot phase
A pilot launched on 8 May 2023 at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona, one of two Spanish centres chosen by the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes. The hospital’s head of clinical histories, Jose Garcia, explains that they began with the seven services handling the most deaths.
In the first three weeks we did 17 cases. The doctor identifies themselves in the system, enters the deceased’s ID number and specifies the time of death, the causes and the remaining items that will be used for statistics.
Current reach
At least one hospital in every health region now uses the system, with 14 centres actively issuing electronic certificates. They include large teaching hospitals such as Vall d’Hebron in Barcelona, Doctor Josep Trueta in Girona, and Joan XXIII in Tarragona, as well as smaller comarcal hospitals in Pallars, Mollet, Viladecans, Igualada and Tortosa. The rollout will continue progressively across all Catalan hospitals during 2026, according to the Govern.
- Pilot begins at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona
- System live in at least one hospital in every Catalan health region
What it means for families
Unlike electronic birth registration, which spared parents a visit to the civil registry, the electronic death certificate does not directly remove steps for relatives. Normally the hospital passes the paperwork to funeral homes, which handle the registry as part of their services. The main benefit lies in reducing bureaucratic load inside the healthcare system and ensuring faster, more reliable data flow.
Next steps
Once the hospital network is covered, the Govern plans to extend the digital certificate to primary care centres, geriatric and sociosanitary facilities, and the operations of the Medical Emergencies System (SEM). About 69 000 deaths are registered in Catalonia each year, and the administration describes the project as a step forward in modernising public services and improving care and administrative circuits.
