E-Authorisations make it easier to use pharmacy services on behalf of others

Your own proof of identity is now sufficient for collecting another person's prescription medicines from the pharmacy provided that you have received an e-Authorisation in the Suomi.fi service. This change will particularly help with the daily life of families with children and those taking care of their spouse’s affairs.

Finns may now give an e-Authorisation which authorises another person to handle their pharmacy-related matters. This pharmacy mandate can be set up in the Suomi.fi online service and can then be used, for example, to collect prescription medicines or renew an electronic prescription on behalf of another person. The mandate is valid in all Finnish pharmacies. 

A person who has this electronic mandate no longer needs to take with them to the pharmacy patient documents such as a Kela card or patient instruction.

The identity of the person with the electronic mandate is checked in the pharmacy from their passport, ID card or driving licence. A Kela card is not a sufficient proof of identity. When in the pharmacy, the authorised individual should give the name.

The pharmacy is able to check at the same time from the Population Register the parents’ right to act on behalf of their children.

“This helps, for example, in situations where the child’s medicines need to be collected from the pharmacy but the child’s Kela card happens to be in the wallet of the spouse who took the child to the doctor. Now it is sufficient for the person collecting the medicines to simply have their own proof of identity”, explains Project Manager Iiro Salonen from the Association of Finnish Pharmacies.

Pharmacies are thus the first to benefit in Finland from electronic mandates for use in stores, and the service will be extended to online pharmacies before the end of this year.

The e-Authorisations will not replace the current operating models in pharmacies, but will instead operate alongside them as a new option.

“Suomi.fi e-Authorisations help facilitate daily life when one is not able to handle one’s own affairs due to age, illness, overseas travel or some other reason. In such situations, a trusted individual can easily take care of your business for you using an e-Authorisation. The assignor specifies the time period and the matters in which the person can act on the assignor’s behalf. It is also easy to remove a mandate in the Suomi.fi e-Authorisation service”, explains Director of Service Provision Timo Salovaara from the Population Register Centre.

A person with a pharmacy mandate has the right to do the following in pharmacies on behalf of another person: collect prescription medicines, renew prescriptions, check Kela and prescription information, cancel prescriptions and request a summary of prescriptions.

Parents of under-age children do not need to obtain an e-Authorisation. Legal guardian details are automatically made available to pharmacies from the information held by the Population Register Centre.

How do I grant a mandate to someone else?

1. Go to https://suomi.fi/ 

2. Log in using your bank identification codes, mobile certificate or electronic ID card.

3. In the menu, select ”e-Authorisations”

4. Follow the instructions provided. Select from the list of authorisations "Use of pharmacy services".

What are Suomi.fi e-Authorisations?

You can use Suomi.fi e-Authorisations to grant or request authorisations to act on another’s behalf.

You can yourself define the period for which the mandate is given to the other person. Mandates can also be removed at any time. In addition, a person can use Suomi.fi e-Authorisations to request authorisation to act on another person’s behalf.

In the Suomi.fi e-Authorisation service, you can see all the authorisations you have granted and received. You can also see the mandate requests submitted and received that are only valid once validated. The service also shows the mandates whose period of validity has expired or those which have been removed prior to expiry.

If you wish to act on behalf of another, your eligibility to do so will be checked from the Suomi-fi e-Authorizations.

Even if the guardianship relationship is valid, the e-Authorisation service will nevertheless state that it is not possible to act on behalf of the other person in cases where the child or other guardian is subject to a non-disclosure order, where there is a ruling of agreement on joint custody (other than with regards to living arrangements), or where the child has been taken into custody. The pharmacy personnel are not given information as to why the right to act on the other’s behalf is not valid.

Further information for Finnish citizens:

Pharmacies: Find your nearest pharmacy at http://www.apteekki.fi/  

Population Register Centre, https://www.suomi.fi/valtuudet-tunnistaudu/ 

Public Service Info, www.kansalaisneuvonta.fi, Tel. +358 (0)295 000 (Open Mon–Fri 8–21, Sat 9–15)

Instructions for using Suomi-fi e-Authorizations: https://www.suomi.fi/instructions-and-support/information-on-eauthorizations

Media Enquiries:

Population Register Centre, Timo Salovaara, Tel. +358 (0)29 553 303, firstname.lastname[at]vrk.fi

The Association of Finish Pharmacies, Iiro Salonen, Tel. 041 436 1517, firstname.lastname[at]vrk.fi

The Association of Finnish Pharmacies

The Association of Finnish Pharmacies (www.apteekkariliitto.fi) is an association that represents private pharmacies. As part of the broader health sector, it develops pharmacy services of high ethical and professional standards and provides its members with services that support their pharmacy operations.