European e-prescriptions accepted in Finnish pharmacies in the spring
During the spring, it will be possible to buy medicines in Finnish pharmacies with electronic prescriptions issued in other European countries. Currently, Finnish prescriptions can be used for purchasing medicines in Estonia and Croatia.
The citizens of Estonia and Croatia will be the first ones to be able to buy prescription medicines in Finnish pharmacies with a prescription issued in their own home country. Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Ireland and the Czech Republic are also preparing to deploy the service.
– Testing is currently underway with Estonia, and the preparations will still continue at least for the whole month of March. According to estimates, Estonian prescriptions will be the first ones to be accepted in Finland, but we don't have a more precise timetable as yet,” says Customer Relations Manager Sini Palo of Kela’s Kanta Services.
Every country decides on its own deployment schedule. Finland is ready to send and receive prescriptions across borders as and when other contact countries are ready.
Finns are already competent in the use of the service
It has been possible to buy medicines in Estonian pharmacies with Finnish prescriptions since January 2019. Since last summer, Finnish prescriptions have also been accepted in Croatia.
Finns have bought medicines abroad using their Finnish e-prescription almost 7,000 times. The majority of the purchases have been made in Estonia, where pharmacies dispense prescription medicines for Finnish customers about 20 times a day. The service has been used by tourists and Finnish citizens living in Estonia.
In addition to prescription data, the transfer of other health data with the patient’s consent is also being prepared in Europe. The movement of data would be useful, for example, in a situation where a person has unexpectedly had to undergo hospital treatment in a foreign country and receives further care in their home country.
E-prescriptions in Europe
- Dispensing of medicines overseas requires that the citizen has given their consent in My Kanta Pages for sharing data with an overseas pharmacy. A passport or ID card must be shown at the pharmacy.
- Kela reimbursement for overseas purchases of medicine can be claimed afterwards in Finland.
- It is not possible to purchase drugs containing narcotic substances or medication that affects the central nervous system, i.e. CNS medicines, which require the original prescription.
Further information online.
Further information for professionals:
kanta@kanta.fi