Digital prescription

A digital prescription can be used to issue a medicinal product once, twice, three times, or six times. The prescriptions are valid for 60 days, for 120 days, for 180 days, and for 540 days, respectively, unless a shorter period is indicated on the prescription. A prescription for a narcotic medicinal product is valid for 30 days, unless a shorter period is indicated on the prescription.

Medical professionals are obliged to issue prescriptions electronically. A paper prescription may be issued in exceptional circumstances: if the prescription centre cannot be used for objective reasons or if the patient needs a prescription to obtain cross-border health services in another EU Member State within the meaning of the Health Services Organisation Act. Paper prescriptions remain valid – they are used concurrently with digital prescriptions.

You can buy the medicinal product as soon as the digital prescription has been issued and approved by your doctor.

You can buy the medicinal product from a pharmacy as soon as the digital prescription has been issued and approved by your doctor. The buyer also needs to present an identity document. The pharmacist will find the right prescription in the prescription centre using the personal identification code of the person.

If the prescription is a public or authorised one, the person buying the medicinal product for someone else will have to specify the personal identification code of the patient and present their own identity document. In the case of multiple prescriptions, the buyer should also know the name of the medicinal product, the date of prescription, and the name of the doctor or their speciality.

A digital prescription can be used to buy the medicinal product only once. It is possible to buy a smaller quantity than the one specified on the prescription. The same prescription cannot be used again later. The doctor will have to issue a new prescription.

You can view all your digital prescriptions on the state portal eesti.ee and the health portal terviseportaal.ee. You can also see whether the medicinal product has already been purchased or not. If you do not have access to the internet or do not own an ID card, you can also get prescription information from your family physician or pharmacist.

You can find information about digital prescriptions for your minor child on the health portal terviseportaal.ee. To do this, the parent must log in to the portal with their ID card, click on ‘Switch roles’ on the homepage, and select their child from the list. It is then possible to view the health data of the child, including their digital prescriptions.

To view their child’s prescriptions from the state portal eesti.ee, the parent must log in to the state portal with the child’s ID card.
 

Physicians and pharmacists have access to the prescriptions that have been issued. The person can check who has looked at their data and when on the state portal www.eesti.ee.

If necessary, a physician can cancel a prescription that they or other physicians have prescribed.

The prescription benefit rate is calculated in the prescription centre and if a mistake has been made in calculating the benefit rate, you should contact the Health Insurance Fund and submit a signed application with the purchase receipt for the medicinal product. If the prescription centre has made a mistake to the detriment of the person, the Health Insurance Fund will compensate the damage incurred to the extent provided by law.

A paper prescription can be issued in exceptional circumstances, such as home visits or during power cuts, or if it is not practical to issue a digital prescription.

Purchasing medicinal products in other European countries (that have joined the service) with a digital prescription issued in Estonia became possible in 2020. The countries which have joined the service can be found here: www.tehik.ee/en/cross-border-data-exchange. More countries will join the service gradually based on their possibilities. When buying the prescribed medicinal product, a person only needs to present their ID card or passport.

The medicinal product reimbursement process is the same as for paper prescriptions. While abroad, a person insured in Estonia must first pay the full price for the medicinal product prescribed to them in Estonia. Afterwards, they can reclaim the amount paid for the medicinal product from the Estonian Health Insurance Fund on the basis of an application for reimbursement and the receipt for the purchase of the medicinal product. For prescriptions issued in Estonia, the medicinal product is reimbursed on the basis of the terms and conditions and the reference price valid in Estonia, and therefore, the medicinal product is reimbursed retrospectively.

The Health Insurance Fund reimburses the prices based on the terms and conditions and price limits of the list of medicinal products of the Health Insurance Fund and not on the basis of the price list valid in the respective foreign country.
 

To renew your prescription, please contact your physician. Only repeat prescriptions can be renewed by telephone or email, i.e. if a person with a chronic disease or a person requiring long-term treatment has already been prescribed the medicinal product.