Policy and vision for community pharmacies in Finland: A roadmap towards enhanced integration and reduced costs

Finland’s community pharmacy system provides an example of a privately-owned regulated being proactively developed by the profession and its stakeholders. Community pharmacists have legal duty to promote safe rational medicine use in outpatient care. The development professionally oriented practice has been nationally coordinated since 1990s with support national steering group consisting professional bodies, authorities, schools continuing education centers. primary focus patient counseling services public health programs. extended towards prospective medication risk management applying evidence-based tools, databases digitalization. Research essential informing progress indicating high-risk patients, medications, practices processes needing improvement. Despite commitment owners, large-scale implementation challenging because lack remuneration, income still primarily sale prescription nonprescription medicines. Policy documents Ministry Social Affairs Health supported extension pharmacists’ role beyond traditional dispensing pharmacotherapy. current roadmap emphasizes ensuring adequate regional availability accessibility medicines, regardless future system. It also importance strong regulation on business operations medicines ensure safety. At same time, requires that must enable new patient-oriented procedures, further digitalization service provision. Competition balance funding should be enhanced, e.g., through price competition, but pharmaceutical market concentration managed. consider influence social care drug delivery. Year 2021 will crucial for making long-term political decisions direction tasks finances Finnish pharmacies this framework. Government-funded studies are underway guide decision making. Ongoing Covid-19 crisis demonstrated readiness adapt fast meet changing societal needs.