The patient's prescription data in the Prescription Centre must be correct and correspond to the patient's up-to-date medication. For this reason, the prescription must always be corrected when there is an error in it or when the data of the prescription does not correspond with the implementation of the patient's pharmacotherapy.
Correction and locking of a prescription
In the pharmacy, the dispenser or pharmacist may correct the prescription in connection with dispensation if they notice any deficiencies or errors in it. A verbal consent of the person who issued the prescription and is attending to the care of the patient is needed before the prescription can be corrected.
If the doctor is unavailable, the pharmacy can lock the prescription until the error can be corrected. The locking will be cancelled automatically when the prescription is corrected.
The pharmacy may also make necessary technical corrections independently in connection with the dispensation. Technical corrections mean situations where, for example, the data entered by the person who issued the prescription is moved to the correct data field or the dosage instruction is written in full. The pharmacy cannot change the data concerning the medication, patient, or the person prescribing the medication with a technical correction. There is no need to ask for consent from the person who has issued the prescription for technical corrections made by the pharmacy.
Cancellation of a prescription
In the pharmacy, the dispenser or pharmacist can cancel a prescription in agreement with the patient. Information about consent and the reason for the cancellation, which can be care-related or technical, is provided in connection with the cancellation.
A care-related cancellation can be made on a prescription that has not been dispensed or is partially dispensed, for example, when the patient's medication has been withdrawn.
A technical cancellation can be made on an non-dispensed prescription, for example, in situations where the prescription has been issued for the wrong person. It is not possible to cancel a prescription for a technical reason if medicine has already been purchased with the prescription. In such a case, the prescription can still be cancelled for a care-related reason in order to stop further dispensing of the medicine.
Correction and cancellation of a dispensation
It is possible to correct or cancel the dispensation of the prescription in the pharmacy. This can be done only in the pharmacy where the medicine was dispensed, and it does not require the customer's consent.
The pharmacy system carries out the verification that the prescription related to the dispensation to be cancelled or corrected is not subject to a dispensing reservation, reservation, special permit reservation, or single dose distribution in another pharmacy, or if it is no locked.
While correcting or cancelling a prescription, the pharmacy must verify whether the preparation is included in the reimbursement scheme or whether the customer has a commitment for payment for the preparation from basic social assistance. If such a preparation is subject to a dispensation correction or cancellation after the date of dispensation, the matter must be notified to Kela's telephone service as soon as possible in order to correct the data.
The Prescription Centre and Kela's pharmacy remittance system are separate systems, and therefore the correction or cancellation of a dispensation in the Prescription Centre does not automatically show in the remittance data or the customer's initial deductible. Further information is available in the pharmacies' guide on sickness insurance.