Articles
Norway e-Prescription Services
E-Prescription stands for electronic prescription. When a doctor in Norway gives you a prescription, it is sent to a central prescription database. You can then collect the items from a pharmacy or bandagist anywhere in the country.
How e-prescriptions work
E-prescriptions work in the same way as paper prescriptions, and the doctor decides for how many dispensings your prescription can be used.
You can also order your prescriptions via an online pharmacy.
You can view a summary of your prescriptions by logging into helsenorge.no.
What will happen when you receive an e-prescription:
- The doctor will prepare the prescription and send it electronically to a central database known as the Prescription Intermediary (“Reseptformidleren”).
- When you go to the pharmacy or bandagist, tell them that you have an e-prescription.
- You will be asked to show identification. If you are collecting medicines on behalf of someone else, you may also be asked to show your power of attorney, along with a copy of identification for the patient if the pharmacy does not already have this information.
- They will search for the prescription in the database, process it and give you the items.
Your doctor will normally use e-prescriptions, but in exceptional cases, you can still receive a paper prescription, for instance if you are planning to collect the items from a pharmacy or bandagist in another country.
E-prescription for those who have a confidential address
You can use e-prescriptions even if you have a confidential address, also known as code 6 or 7. There are rules and guidelines for this, and you can find out more from the relevant unit at the National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos).
Who can see your prescriptions?
On 1 January 2019, the regulations were changed so that health professionals who are treating you no longer need to ask for consent to see your prescriptions. Instead, you can now choose to block access to your prescriptions by health personnel.
General practitioners (GPs)
Your GP can view all the prescriptions that have been issued for you. Locked prescriptions that have been locked with a reference number will only be visible to those who enter the prescription’s reference number.
Your GP must consider whether you are receiving the appropriate medicines. It is therefore important that they have a complete overview of your prescriptions. Your GP needs to be able to identify medicines which cause effects that may influence each other, known as interactions.
Once you have received the items from the pharmacy or the bandagist, a notification will be sent to your GP to confirm this. This ensures that your GP is aware of the medicines you are taking at all times.
Every time an item is dispensed, you can opt out so that your GP will not receive notification, even if you have given your consent in the past. This is done at the pharmacy or the bandagist before they process the items. You must also do this in connection with locked prescriptions if you do not want your GP to be notified of the dispensing.
Dentists, midwives and public health nurses
Dentists, midwives and public health nurses can view prescriptions that they or others have issued for you.
Pharmacies and bandagists
Staff at pharmacies can view all your prescriptions, but only in order to serve you at the pharmacy or to send your medicines to you. The member of staff will first bring up a list of your valid e-prescriptions and can then download the prescription concerned.
If you do not want pharmacy staff to be able to search for your prescriptions, you can ask your GP to lock the prescription with a reference number. To enable the pharmacy to serve you, you must state the reference number when you collect the items.
Bandagists cannot view prescriptions for medicines.
Access log
Healthcare professionals can only search amongst your prescriptions when they have a legitimate need to do so as part of the service they are providing.
Such access will be recorded in an access log, where you can see who has searched amongst your prescriptions. Only access by pharmacies, bandagists and healthcare professionals will be shown.
Locked prescriptions
A locked prescription is used if you want your prescription to be visible only to those you choose to give the reference number to. You must ask your GP to lock the prescription with a reference number before they send the prescription to the Prescription Intermediary. You will then be given a reference number that you must tell your pharmacist or the bandagist in order to collect the items.
Dispensing
Any pharmacy and most bandagists can process your e-prescription.
The pharmacist or bandagist you use will be asked by your GP to process your e-prescription. When you need more, you can collect what you have left on the prescription from the pharmacy or the bandagist. You can also use an online pharmacy to arrange for your items to be sent to your home address. You will need to contact your GP when you need another prescription.
You must present identification when collecting items on prescription
The pharmacist or bandagist must ensure that the correct medicines or items are given out to the correct person. It is therefore pharmacy procedure to ask for identification if the pharmacy staff do not already know you. This applies both to the dispensing of medicines or other items, and to the disclosure of information concerning prescriptions from pharmacies.
Other people can collect your items on your behalf
It is pharmacy procedure to require the person who collects the prescription for you to present their own identification if the pharmacy staff do not already know them. Power of attorney to collect the items, along with a copy of your identification, will also be required.
Please note that power of attorney to gain access to services is not the same as power of attorney to collect items on behalf of others. In order to collect other people’s medicines or items from a pharmacy, you must use a special type of power of attorney specifically intended for this purpose. You can obtain a form for this from the Norwegian Pharmacy Association (in Norwegian).
The requirement for power of attorney does not apply:
- if you are collecting items for your own children under the age of 16.
- if the care service is collecting the items and employee ID is presented.
Healthcare professionals who are employed by a pharmacy may deviate from the requirement to present identification and power of attorney when handing out medicines if they deem it necessary, for example to ensure patient safety.
Security and privacy
E-prescriptions are stored in a central database called the Prescription Intermediary (“Reseptformidleren”).
E-prescriptions meet stringent requirements regarding national security and privacy. The system logs the pharmacies, bandagists and healthcare professionals who search for the prescription. You may be asked to provide identification, both when collecting items and when you want a printout. You must present identification when collecting strong painkillers or tranquillisers which could be misused.
The prescription will be deleted from the Prescription Intermediary one month after it has been processed. Once the prescription has expired, it will be deleted immediately.
You can block access to your prescriptions by healthcare professionals. You can read more about this in the article E-prescription privacy and security (in Norwegian).
Source: