Concepts related to quarterly notifications submitted by pharmaceutical companies 

Another organisation authorised by a pharmaceutical company to submit quarterly notifications to Kela on its behalf.

A portal maintained by Kela which pharmaceutical companies can use to submit quarterly notifications. Log in to the service with Suomi.fi e-identification. The service can only be used by pharmaceutical companies that have a Finnish business ID (Y-tunnus). The service is only available in Finnish and Swedish.

Finnish Medicines Agency. A central agency under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health acting as the Finnish licensing and supervisory authority for the pharmaceutical industry (e.g. sales licenses). Fimea updates a list of substitutable medicinal products.

Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board. Authority functioning in connection with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health which confirms reimbursability and maximum wholesale prices for medicinal products. It also defines the reference prices of the medicinal products included in the reference price system 4 times a year.

An online search portal containing up-to-date information about the prices of medicines, about their reimbursement status, and about substitutable products. The service is based on data from the Pharmaceutical Database. The Medicinal Products Database can be found at www.kela.fi/laakehaku.

A Kanta service that contains up-to-date data on medicinal products available on the market in Finland. Medicines are prescribed and dispensed on the basis of the product information in the Pharmaceutical Database. Lääketietokeskus Oy provides technical maintenance for the Pharmaceutical Database.

Price range of EUR 0.50 determined by Kela where the pharmacies must substitute products that exceed the price range. The price range is calculated on the basis of the price of the cheapest product in the group of substitutable packages. If the cheapest price is e.g. EUR 2.00, the price band is EUR 2.00–2.50. Price bands are defined 4 times a year based on the prices notified by pharmaceutical companies to Kela. See also Upper limit of the price band and Reference price.

Medicinal product for which a quarterly notification must be submitted to Kela. The price notification procedure applies to medicinal products included in generic substitution and in the reference price system as well as products undergoing a so-called transition period.

A product that has previously been included in the reference price system. Products undergoing a transition period are subject to the price notification procedure, which means that a quarterly notification for the product must be submitted to Kela.

Price notification for products subject to the price notification procedure in generic substitution and the reference price system. The price notifications are submitted to Kela, and Kela forwards them to the Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board (HILA). On the basis of the prices notified, Kela determines the price bands and HILA determines the reference prices.

Highest price determined for a medicine for which reimbursement can be paid. The Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board (Hila) defines the reference prices 4  times a year based on the prices notified by pharmaceutical companies. The reference price is calculated on the basis of the cheapest price for the reimbursable substitutable packages by adding EUR 0.50 to this price. If the cheapest price is e.g. EUR 2.00, the reference price is EUR 2.50. See also Upper limit of the price band and Reference price group.

A group of substitutable medicines which includes at least one reimbursable generic, parallel import or parallel distribution product. The Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board (Hila) confirms the reference price groups 4 times a year.

System established with the aim of curtailing the growth in medicine reimbursement expenditure and promoting the use of less expensive substitutable products. The reference price system concerns reimbursable medicines to which generic substitution applies. The reference price system was introduced in Finland in 2009.

Medicinal products that contain the same amount of the same active substance and that are biologically equivalent. Fimea updates a list of substitutable medicinal products.

A group of substitutable medicinal products as defined by Fimea. Medicines that are included in the same group contain the same amount of the same active substance. All packages of different sizes are included in the same group.

10-digit code identifying the group of substitutable packages. The medicines included in the same group contain the same amount of the same active substance and their package size is the same, e.g. 20 tablets. The same code is used both in generic substitution and in the reference price system.

Price limit determined by Kela at which the pharmacy must substitute products whose price exceeds the limit for cheaper substitutable products. The upper limit is calculated by adding EUR 0.50 to the price of the cheapest product within the group of substitutable packages. If the cheapest price is e.g. EUR 2.00, the upper limit of the price band is EUR 2.50. See also Reference price.