Healthcare EU target for next few years: Passenger healthcare will become smoother in Europe as electronic prescriptions and health information move across borders

Policy|Health care

In Europe the free movement of health information and electronic prescriptions across borders will clearly increase in the coming years. The flow of information is intended to ensure the smooth continuation of treatment regardless of the country in which the person resides.

The goal is for electronic prescriptions and summaries of patient data to be widely available in the EU and the EEA by 2025.

In Finland, an electronic prescription has been launched, which makes it easier to buy a medicine abroad, for example in unexpected situations, if the medicine has been forgotten at home or if a person living abroad for a longer period of time does not want to carry a large stock of medicines. The traveler no longer has to ask the doctor for a paper prescription for a purchase abroad, but the prescription is displayed in a secure information system at the pharmacy in the destination country.

For the time being, the Finnish electronic prescription allows you to buy medicines in Estonia, Croatia and Portugal, and the right also works in another direction.

Last year, there were more than 3,000 deliveries of a Finnish prescription abroad. The vast majority of medicines were purchased in Estonia. Approximately a similar number of medicines were purchased with an Estonian electronic prescription from Finland.

“Due to the corona pandemic, the use of electronic prescriptions abroad was halved compared to 2019,” says a business expert Sini Palo Kela’s Kanta services.

Finland has been a pioneer in the cross-border e-prescription, which has been valid in Estonia since 2019. The cross-border e-prescription is only in use in four countries in Europe, but it is also being prepared elsewhere.

“Sweden, Poland and Spain are the most advanced. In some countries, start-ups have been delayed due to the pandemic, ”Palo continues.

This spring, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Ireland and Hungary are also participating in the joint testing of the electronic prescription.

Sweden is preparing legislation and may introduce the prescription next year. It is not yet known with which countries Sweden will start transferring recipes.

“Typically, collaboration seems to be popular between border neighbors,” says the Patient Data Mobility Paavo Kauranne About Kela’s information services.

Paavo Kauranne, who develops the mobility of health information, at Kela’s head office in Helsinki on March 24, 2022. Picture: Antti Aimo-Koivisto / Lehtikuva

In Croatia An electronic prescription allows you to buy medicines from all pharmacies, in Estonia from the majority and only from one pharmacy in Portugal.

In Portugal, most Finns live in the Algarve on the south coast, but so far the only pharmacy in Finland that accepts electronic prescriptions is in Porto in the northern part of the country. Chairman of the Board of the Algarve Society Ilkka Saarni has proposed expanding the service to Portimao, the center of Finns in the Algarve.

Saarni hopes that the Finnish prescription could also be used to buy medicine in the Algarve.

“On the other hand, seniors live here for a long time during the winter,” and many visit a doctor in Portugal. A visit to a health center doctor costs only four and a half euros.

Recipes in addition, other health information is increasingly being moved across borders. The information will follow the person moving from one country to another, if he or she has given his or her consent.

As a first step, summaries of patient data will begin to flow between countries. They provide information on, for example, allergies, medication, previous illnesses and surgeries.

“The transition to patient history helps in planning care if a person needs health care in another country,” Kauranne sums up.

Summaries of patient data are already in use in almost ten EU countries, but not yet in Finland. The intention is that by the end of 2023, Finnish summaries will be available in countries that already implement the same service. A summary of foreign patient data in Finland will be available by the end of 2024.

Summaries are only transferred when they are requested from abroad. The transfer of data may later be extended to include laboratory results and medical images.