Sharing of prescription data in pharmacies and healthcare

Sharing of prescription data in pharmacies and healthcare

This page contains information on how clients can have a say in sharing their prescription data via the Kanta Services by setting up denials of consent. In a care situation, no separate consent is needed from the client for using prescription data.

Consent to sharing prescription data

The sharing of prescription data via the Kanta Services is based on informing the client, as well as on denials of consent to data sharing issued by the client.

In a care situation, it is not necessary for a healthcare professional to ask the client for separate consent for using prescription data. If the prescription data needs to be retrieved for another purpose, the client’s written consent is needed for it.

In a pharmacy situation, the client’s verbal request is needed for retrieving their prescriptions for dispensing the medicine.

Denials of consent to sharing prescription data

The client can set denials of consent to data sharing concerning individual prescriptions. The data on a prescription subject to a denial of consent to data sharing will not be shared with social welfare or healthcare service providers, or with pharmacies. 

Despite the denial of consent to data sharing, the doctor who issued the prescription and the service provider can see the prescription data when the care relationship continues. Once the wellbeing services counties have begun operations, the prescriptions issued by the region's previous public social and healthcare organisations which are subject to the patient’s or client’s denial of consent to data sharing will be visible to the wellbeing services county's social and healthcare services. However, data on prescriptions subject to a denial of consent to data sharing will not be shared with any other wellbeing services county or with private healthcare providers.

A prescription, for which the client has set a denial of consent to data sharing, cannot be viewed in the pharmacy when retrieving it with a personal identity code. The client must present in the pharmacy a patient instruction sheet and a summary printed from MyKanta before the prescription in question can be shared with them.

Prescriptions that are subject to a denial of consent to data sharing cannot be shared with an overseas pharmacy, either.

Denials of consent to data sharing cannot be set for certain prescription data

The denial of consent to sharing prescription data does not apply to all prescriptions and their dispensing data.

Healthcare professionals and service providers can see the client’s prescription data despite denials of consent to data sharing

  • in the case of a prescription they have issued
  • when the client requests to renew a prescription
  • when the client’s care relationship continues.

Despite the denial of consent to data sharing, the person who issued the prescription will be shown data about the paper and telephone prescriptions entered in the Prescription Centre by the pharmacy, on which they have been added as the person who issued the prescription, as well as about the dispensing data of these prescriptions.

If a doctor is prescribing CNS or narcotic drugs to a client, the doctor will receive information from the Prescription Centre concerning similar medicines previously prescribed for the client, as well as their dispensing data.

In disruption and error situations with respect to the information systems, the healthcare provider, Kela or the technical personnel of the information system supplier will see the prescription data in the extent that the investigation of the disruption requires.

Instructions for setting denials of consent to sharing prescription data

The client can set denials of consent to data sharing in MyKanta or when visiting the healthcare service. A healthcare professional will record the client’s denial of consent to sharing prescription data in their patient data system, from where the information is saved in the system for issuing declarations of intent in the Kanta Services. The denial of consent to data sharing is valid until further notice and the client can withdraw it at any time.

When the client so requests, a summary of denials of consent to data sharing that the client has issued must be printed out for the client. It is not necessary to sign a paper copy of the summary and the service provider need not archive it.

THL published more detailed instructions on the operating models in the healthcare service and pharmacies that changed as a result of the Client Data Act in autumn 2021. You can also see the training recordings concerning the changing operating models.

Last updated 5.9.2023