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Instructions on sending a prescription renewal request

Instructions on sending a prescription renewal request

In MyKanta, it is easy to send a request for a prescription renewal to the healthcare services if the healthcare unit responsible for your care accepts requests for prescription renewals electronically. A parent or guardian can also send a request for a prescription renewal for a child under the age of 10.

How do I send a prescription renewal request in MyKanta?

What to do

  • Select ‘Reseptit'.
  • Click on the link ‘Reseptien uusiminen'.
  • Select the prescriptions you want to renew and click ‘Jatka'.
  • Select the recipient of the renewal request.
  • If you wish, you can give your phone number.
  • Click ‘Jatka'.
  • Make sure that the information you have given is correct and click ‘Lähetä'.

You will receive a confirmation of a successful submission of the renewal request. When the prescription is renewed by a doctor, they can view prescriptions issued by other doctors in the Prescription Centre.

How do I know when the prescription has been renewed?

Processing a prescription renewal request can take up to 8 days.

If you leave your phone number when making the renewal request, you will receive a text message to inform you when it is renewed.

You can also monitor the renewal status in MyKanta under the prescription details:

  • Select the page 'Reseptit'.
  • In the prescription list, click the link of the prescription to be renewed.
  • Read the renewal status information at the top of the prescription.

If the renewal request has been approved, you will see the new prescription in the list on the page ‘Reseptit'.

Which prescriptions can I renew?

You can ask for renewal for a prescription  

  • from which you have already bought medicine

Prescriptions that are valid for two years can be renewed over a period of 28 months from the issue date. Prescriptions valid for one year can be renewed over a period of 16 months.

The doctor will not necessarily renew the prescription, if

  • it is for a preparation taken as a course, e.g. an antibiotic or cough medicine, with which it is necessary to examine the patient before prescribing
  • the effectiveness and safety of the medicine in the patient's treatment has not been assessed in the past 16 months
  • the original prescription was issued elsewhere, and the healthcare unit does not have sufficient information on the patient's treatment

Prescription renewal cannot be requested through MyKanta, if

  • the prescription is under a renewal ban
  • the prescription has been cancelled
  • the prescription is for a unit-dose dispensed drug
  • a renewal request for the prescription is already pending
  • an earlier renewal request for the prescription was refused
  • the prescription was issued for purchase abroad.
  • the prescription is a special permit product
  • the prescription is a telephone prescription recorded at the pharmacy
  • no medicine has yet been purchased with the prescription.

Such prescriptions do not appear on the selection list at all.

Which healthcare unit will renew my prescription?

Prescriptions are primarily renewed at the unit treating you, e.g. a health centre you have previously visited.

MyKanta suggests that your repeat request is received by all healthcare units or operators that have previously issued you prescriptions. MyKanta makes the suggestion, if the operator receives prescription renewal requests.

If MyKanta does not suggest a recipient for the renewal request, you can select one yourself from the list. Remember that the renewal request must be sent to the unit that is responsible for your treatment. 

Note that not all units receive renewal requests. Those units cannot be selected on MyKanta.

Can I renew a prescription for a minor in MyKanta?

In MyKanta, a parent or guardian can send a renewal request for a prescription of a minor. All prescriptions of a minor may not necessarily be visible to the parent or guardian in MyKanta. 

When are prescriptions visible to the parent or guardian?

  • Prescriptions issued to a child under 10 are usually visible to the parent or guardian in MyKanta. 
  • Prescriptions issued to a child over 10 years of age may be visible to the parent or guardian in MyKanta when the information about the child’s decision-making capacity has been entered on the prescription. This requires changes to be made in the patient data systems. The modification work will proceed in accordance with the decisions of individual healthcare organisations.

Which prescriptions are not visible to the parent or guardian?

  • The decision-making capacity of a minor has not been known at the time of issuing the prescription.
  • It has not been possible to enter information about the decision-making capacity of a minor on the prescription of a child over 10 years of age in the required way.
  • A young person, who has been assessed to be capable of making their own decisions, has refused the sharing of prescription data.
Last updated 14.6.2023