Key points
- The municipality of Lisbon had 202,430 foreign residents at the end of 2024, more than any other in Portugal.1
- The ERS issued 2,128 licences to health care establishments in 2024, and its register grew by 6.9% in establishments that year.2
- Article 29 of Law 58/2019 makes access to health data electronic only, unless technically impossible or the patient asks otherwise, and bars its onward disclosure.3
- The same article extends secrecy to people who monitor, finance or inspect health care, which can include staff at funders who see clinical data.3
- wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic.
Summary
In Lisbon, AI can draft clinical notes and replies to patients under Law 58/2019 and GDPR, whose Article 29 keeps access to health data electronic and bars passing it on. Each establishment needs its ERS registration and, where required, an ERS licence, and the city has more foreign residents than any other municipality in Portugal.
Every enquiry answered before the clinic opens, and every record kept electronic and under the doctor's control. Lisbon clinics work under ERS licensing and Portugal's own reading of GDPR for health data.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoIn fifteen minutes, see a late WhatsApp reschedule from Alvalade approved and rebooked, then a dermatology note signed.
| Body or rule | What it requires | What to ask | How wai meets it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entidade Reguladora da Saúde, statutes Article 11 | Registration of every establishment and licensing decisions | Which of our services need a licence as well as registration | Every message, draft, approval and signature logged and exportable |
| Law 58/2019, Article 29, paragraph 3 | Electronic-only access to health data, no onward disclosure | Do any records still travel as attachments or paper | One electronic record, with letters delivered to the patient's own wai Profile |
| Law 58/2019, Article 29, paragraph 5 | Secrecy for those who monitor, finance or inspect care | Which outside parties see clinical data, and under what terms | Role-based access enforced in the database, subprocessors named with 30 days notice |
| CNPD | Supervision of GDPR and Law 58/2019 | Where is the data held | Records hosted in the clinic's own country |
The private care market in Lisbon
AIMA's 2024 migration report counted 1,543,697 foreign residents in Portugal. The municipality of Lisbon led with 202,430, and nine of the twelve municipalities with the most foreign residents lie in the Lisbon metropolitan area, 614,486 people or 39.8% of the national total.1
Brazilian citizens were the largest community at 31.4% of foreign residents nationally, with Indian citizens now second.1 Supply is growing too. At the end of 2024 the ERS counted 23,453 registered entities running 40,485 establishments, net growth of 5.2% and 6.9% on the year.2
The rules a clinic in Lisbon works under
The Entidade Reguladora da Saúde supervises establishments in the public, private, social and cooperative sectors, keeps their mandatory public register and decides licensing applications under Article 11 of its statutes. It issued 2,128 licences across care types in 2024.2
Law 58/2019 carries GDPR into Portuguese law, under the supervision of the CNPD.34 For health data, its Article 29 says access is made exclusively by electronic means, unless that is technically impossible or the patient says otherwise, and further disclosure or transmission is prohibited.3 Paragraph 5 extends the duty of secrecy to staff who monitor, finance or inspect health care and see health data in doing so.3
wai keeps messages and signed notes inside one electronic record, with keys managed per clinic and audited access to every record.6 wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic. wai is compliant with these rules and built for clinics in Lisbon.
The languages patients write in
Article 11 of the Constitution makes Portuguese the official language.5 Among foreign residents in Portugal, the largest groups after Brazil include India at 98,616, Angola at 92,348, Nepal at 58,086, the United Kingdom at 48,238 and Italy at 40,021.1
wai works in any language, and every reply is drafted for a person at the clinic to approve.7
What a demo shows in Lisbon
A Brazilian patient living in Alvalade sends a WhatsApp message at 23:05 asking to move Thursday's dermatology appointment. wai reads the dermatologist's busy times from Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar, offers an open Friday slot and drafts the reply in the patient's language, and the receptionist approves it at 09:00. An English email from a family relocating to Cascais gets a reply with the price on the page and a booking link.
The family books on the clinic's own site, earliest time first, and pays a deposit in euros into the clinic's own Stripe account. wai drafts the consultation note, the doctor reviews and signs it, and the patient sees the letter in a wai Profile instead of a printed copy or an attachment forwarded by email.
For health systems, insurers and public bodies in Portugal
Insurers, private hospital groups and SNS bodies in Portugal can commission their own system on wai, beginning with one clinical pathway and the ownership of data and configuration fixed in the contract. How such a build is scoped and priced is on the organisations page.
Where to start
First, confirm whether each service you run needs an ERS licence as well as registration, and keep both references on file. Second, list every place health data leaves your systems today, such as email attachments to insurers, and move it into one electronic record with logged access. Third, add a line to your patient information about AI drafting, using the consent form template.
Then sort last month's Lisbon enquiries by language and hour and bring that list to a fifteen-minute demo. Pricing is published on the pricing page.
Bring a week of Lisbon enquiries by WhatsApp and email, and see each reply drafted for approval and logged.
Frequently asked questions
Does every Lisbon clinic need an ERS licence?
Every establishment must be on the ERS register, and the ERS decides the licensing applications for the types of care that need one. It issued 2,128 licences in 2024.2
Can health records be sent by email attachment in Portugal?
Article 29 of Law 58/2019 makes access to health data exclusively electronic, save technical impossibility or the patient's own instruction, and prohibits further disclosure or transmission.3
Are insurers bound by secrecy over health data?
Paragraph 5 of Article 29 extends the duty of secrecy to those who monitor, finance or inspect health care and access health data in that work.3
Who supervises data protection for a Lisbon clinic?
The Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados, the CNPD.4
Which communities should a Lisbon front desk expect?
Where are our records hosted?
wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic.6
Sources
- 1AIMA, Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo, 2025Relatório de Migrações e Asilo 2024Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 2Entidade Reguladora da Saúde, 2025Memória justificativa do orçamento da ERS para 2026Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 3Diário da República, 2019Lei n.º 58/2019, de 8 de agosto, Article 29Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 4CNPD, 2026Comissão Nacional de Proteção de DadosRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 5Assembleia da República, 2026Constituição da República Portuguesa, Article 11Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 6wai, 2026Security at waiRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 7wai, 2026wai changelog, intake answered by voice in any languageRead 15 October 2026Read source
Every Lisbon enquiry answered by morning, every record kept electronic and under your control.
Fifteen minutes with a clinician who uses wai daily, on your own diary and payments. We reply within one working day.
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See it on your own patients, then build it with us
Thirty minutes on your own patients, doctors and rules, in your market. We reply within one working day, and the clinics that partner with us early shape what we build next.
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