Frequently asked questions at the pharmacy

You can purchase your prescription medication from any pharmacy. In Finland, the prescriber saves your prescription electronically in the Prescription Center. You can conveniently view your electronic prescriptions in OmaKanta.

• To purchase medicines with an electronic prescription, you will need your Kela card, ID card, or driver's license. You can also use the patient instructions you received from your doctor.

• The pharmacy's pharmaceutical staff will check your electronic prescriptions in the Prescription Center and provide you with the prescription medicines you need, along with medication advice. You can also feel free to ask any questions you may have about your medication if something is bothering you.

• If, in exceptional circumstances, a doctor has called the pharmacy and prescribed a telephone prescription for you, this prescription medicine must be collected from this pharmacy for the first time. The pharmacy that received the telephone prescription will electronicize the telephone prescription on the first delivery, and if there is any medicine left on the prescription, you can continue to pick up the remaining medicine from any pharmacy as usual.

Yes, you can. There are various options for acting on behalf of someone else.

• To act on behalf of someone else, you will need that person's Kela card and information about the medicines you are picking up from the pharmacy.
  

• With the printed patient instructions provided to you, you can also pick up the medications for that patient on behalf of someone else.

• You can also give pharmacies electronic authorization to act on your behalf via the Suomi.fi service. In this case, when collecting the medicine, you will need to bring your own photo ID and the personal identity number of the person on whose behalf you are acting. The pharmacy will use this information to verify the electronic authorization.

You can only purchase the next batch of medication from the pharmacy with Kela reimbursement once the previous batch has been almost completely used up. You can purchase a maximum of 3 months' worth of medication (equivalent to 100 days' worth) at a time with Kela reimbursement.

• If you purchased a 3-month supply of medication last time, you can purchase the next batch 3 weeks before the previous batch runs out.

• If you purchased a two-month supply of medication last time, you can purchase the next batch two weeks before the previous batch runs out.

• If you purchased a month's supply of medication last time, you can purchase the next batch one week before the previous batch runs out.

When you purchase medication, the pharmacy staff will check whether the flexibility period required by Kela has been met and whether you are eligible to purchase the next batch of medication directly with Kela reimbursement. Without Kela reimbursement, it is possible to purchase medication earlier, for example for travel, except in a few special cases.

You can renew your prescription via the OmaKanta service, Maisa, or by requesting a renewal directly from your doctor or pharmacy.

• Pharmacies can send electronic renewal requests for prescription drugs prescribed in the public healthcare system.

• A renewal request sent to the healthcare unit at the pharmacy is valid for 8 days, during which time the prescriber can renew the prescription or reject the request. A prescription for which a renewal request has been rejected once cannot be renewed again.

Prescriptions are usually valid for two years from the date of issue, but there are a few exceptions where prescriptions are valid for a shorter period.

The prescription is valid for one year in the following cases:

• CNS medicine

• narcotic drug

• biological medicine (biological originator product or biosimilar)

• patient-specific special-authorization medicine or

• A medicinal mixture prepared in a pharmacy that contains a CNS medicine, a narcotic medicine, a biological medicine, or a special license product.

Telephone prescriptions are valid for three months from the date of issue.

The prescriber may also limit the validity period of the prescription if necessary.

You can conveniently check the validity period of your prescription using the OmaKanta service. You can also see the validity period of the prescription on the instruction label attached to the medicine package, and if necessary, you can also ask about it when visiting the pharmacy.

Yes, a driver's license is valid at the pharmacy.

The pharmacy receives your up-to-date Kela information electronically, so you do not necessarily need to bring your Kela card with you when visiting the pharmacy. A driver's license or other photo ID will suffice.

If the medicine is not immediately available in the pharmacy's stock, the pharmacy can usually order it for the next business day. The Kaarti pharmacy receives deliveries every day, which means that ordered medicines are often delivered very quickly.

In urgent cases, the pharmacy can help you find the medicine at another pharmacy. You can also check whether the pharmacy has the medicine you need in stock by searching for it online or calling the pharmacy.

You can easily check the availability of medicines by searching for them at www.apteekki.fi.

The website does not show how much of a particular product the pharmacy has in stock, so you can check this by calling the pharmacy, for example. If necessary, we can always order the medicine you need from the wholesaler if we do not have it available immediately.

We are constantly developing our pharmacy's range of medicines and are happy to hear your requests.

You can ask about this directly at the Kaartin pharmacy, or you can also find out for yourself directly from Fimea's medicine search.

1. First, search for the medicine you are using in Fimea's medicine search and find your product in the search results.

2. You will then see product information about the medicine in question. Look for the line that mentions the Schengen certificate.

Yes, our pharmacists provide expert advice on topics such as medication use, interactions, and possible side effects.

You can also ask for advice without any obligation, even if you don't buy any medication during your visit. We are happy to help!

Yes, prescription drugs cost exactly the same in all pharmacies in Finland.

Pharmacies are not allowed by law to compete on the prices of prescription drugs. The retail sale of drugs must be at a price set by the government, which is publicly available information. Pharmacies are therefore NOT allowed to set the prices of prescription drugs themselves.