Virtual pharmacists, electronic medicine lists, ready-made daily dose pouches, and electronic mandates – the digital channel offered by the Finnish Pharmacists' Association to its members will enable a lot for both entrepreneurs and customers in the future.

Online pharmacies are sales channels on the internet for prescription and over-the-counter medicines, as well as other pharmacy products, from pharmacies operating all over Finland. The operations are not new in Finland, but the demand for online pharmacies has so far been quite modest.

When the corona hit, many aspects of our interaction changed – also in pharmacies. Few could predict an entirely new user base for online pharmacies.

Our seniors, who were prescribed to stay home, turned out to be surprisingly digitally ready.

"There was a spike in user numbers in spring 2020, quickly, in just a few days. Online pharmacy customers over 60 years old took over user statistics from 30-year-olds, who previously formed the largest customer base. The group that otherwise uses pharmacy services the most appeared as the largest group online for the first time as well," says the pharmaceutical director of the Pharmacists' Association, Charlotta Sandler.

Photo: Brandphoto. Charlotta Sandler, pharmaceutical director of the Pharmacists' Association.

So the online pharmacy had to quickly be, so to speak, in good shape. In the major change phase of autumn 2020, Crasman joined in building a responsible growth spurt for the pharmacy sector and took over the development of the eApteekki platform created for the Magento e-commerce system.

The demand created by the new user group requires an easy-to-use interface and reliable functionality from the online pharmacy. More than 100 online pharmacies operate on a shared cloud platform, and more are coming, as the Pharmacists' Association expects a significant increase in the prevalence of digital channels in the coming years. So what is changing in the pharmacy field?

Building responsible and service-oriented pharmacies online as well

"Local pharmacies will continue to be in demand, but the digital channel offers a new kind of flexibility to the services, for example, in the form of various delivery methods and remote consultation and proxy services," notes Charlotta Sandler.
The online pharmacy in Finland is connected to an individual pharmacy license. The arrangement ensures that pharmacies will continue to serve in physical premises in remote areas.

Medicines require standardized conditions even during transport. For this reason, warehouses are needed all over Finland, and central warehousing operations are not even a goal for medicines.
Charlotta Sandler emphasizes the healthcare responsibility and obligation of all pharmacy operations in the online pharmacy: buying from a pharmacy includes not only the medicines but also advice on their safe use.

Personal contact is also formed with the pharmacist online when ordering prescription medicines. Additionally, other consultation services are available by phone, message, or via chat if desired.

Order and collect – also on behalf of a loved one

Currently, the most common way to use an online pharmacy is to order medicines online for pick-up at one's local physical pharmacy or a collection locker. Very local, then – less than half of the orders are delivered to customers by post or, for example, by express delivery using a taxi.

Soon, one will be able to handle matters on behalf of a loved one at an online pharmacy with a suomi.fi mandate and identification. This will make it easier for children living in different locations to manage the medication of their aging parents.

It will also soon be possible to obtain medicines for one's own children from the online pharmacy. Previously this was only possible in physical pharmacies because a child cannot identify themselves electronically.

Virtual pharmacists and long-term medicine subscriptions

The Finnish pharmacy system is already very digitalized. For example, in Germany, they are only now considering an electronic prescription, whereas we have had it in use for ten years.

The online pharmacy will continue this development, and in the future, the customer service pathway will become even smoother, as challenges, for example with the compensation system, are resolved with the help of officials.

Charlotta Sandler sees only opportunities for the future of the online pharmacy.

From virtual pharmacists to patients' electronic medicine lists, easy reorders of regular medication, or ordering regular medication in ready-made daily dose pouches – the future of pharmacy services looks like a good combination of local and digital.

Would you like to hear more? Explore eApteekki.