1.3.2024
1. What is a patient summary?
A patient summary is a document containing relevant information about you stored in the Kanta Services. If you need to seek treatment in another European country, the summary allows health care professionals to obtain the information in their own language. The patient summary supports the delivery of high-quality care and improves the continuity of your treatment and your patient safety.
The summary will be disclosed to another European country through national contact points. Kela maintains the Finnish national contact point and acts as the data controller for the data stored in the national contact point, and is responsible for the reliable and safe use of the data. Each national contact point is committed to complying with EU requirements, and compliance is ensured through regular audits.
2. Consent to the transfer of data
In order for a patient summary to be retrieved in another European country, you must have consented to this in MyKanta. Consent is valid until further notice and can be withdrawn at any time in MyKanta.
In connection with your treatment, you can give the local health care professional permission to retrieve the patient summary from Finland using your personal identity code. Your health care professional should tell you the purpose for which the summary is being used, and check with you that your information can be retrieved.
3. What information will be sent about me?
Data transferred to other European countries will be compiled from your prescription and patient data stored by social welfare and health care professionals in the Kanta Services. The information that is conveyed includes your allergies, previous diagnoses, medications, procedures that have been performed on you, and any devices that have been placed in your body.
4. On what basis will my data be processed?
The summary data will be processed and stored in other European countries in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, individual countries’ national legislation, and procedures approved by health care providers. The Social and Health Care Customer Data Processing Act (703/2023) enables the transmission of your data.
5. What will my data be used for?
Your patient data will only be used to plan your treatment. In some European countries, your data may also be used for other purposes, but these purposes are regulated by law. Examples of uses may include statistics, monitoring, and research to improve quality. For these secondary purposes, the country processing the data is committed to ensuring adequate protection of the data, such as de-identifying the data.
6. Who can process my data?
Your data will only be processed by recognised health care professionals who have the right to process the data when they plan your treatment. Data will not be shared with third parties.
It is the responsibility of each country to ensure that health care providers and service providers have the knowledge and expertise necessary to process the data. When your data is transferred from Finland to another European country, the responsibility for the correct processing of the data is transferred at the same time. Parties responsible may include:
- health care professionals and providers in other countries
- the Finnish national contact point, i.e. Kela’s Kanta Services
- the point of contact for the country where you are receiving health care.
7. Where and for how long will my data be stored?
Your data may be stored in health care systems in other European countries. The data may only be kept for as long as it is necessary for the purpose for which it is used. Retention periods vary by country. A longer retention period is only possible if your data needs to be kept longer than usual due to archiving and scientific or historical research.
8. Your rights
You have the right to make a request for log data and to be informed of the country and health care organisation in which your data has been processed, plus the reason for processing your data. MyKanta allows you to see to which organisation your data have been disclosed to.If you have used any other European country’s health care system and are not otherwise regulated by the law of said country, you have the right to request the deletion of the data that you have stored in the health care systems of said country without delay.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority concerning the processing of your data.
9. Contacts
Controller of medication information, patient information, and the national contact point in Finland: Kela, asiakaspalvelu@kanta.fi.
Supervisory authority in Finland: Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman, tietosuoja@om.fi.
10. Read more
Additional information about retention periods and the potential secondary use of data in different countries and a list of countries to which the patient summary may be sent: Electronic cross-border health services (europa.eu).
