Aina clinic brings doctor services to 160 pharmacies

A new private pharmacy clinic called Aina will provide doctor services at 160 pharmacies across Finland, Yle reports. Customers can connect remotely with a doctor, for example to renew a prescription.

Aina was established this year and has signed cooperation agreements with the pharmacies. The services previously offered by Rokotepiste will also become part of Aina, while many of the existing locations will remain unchanged.

Doctors Atte Virolainen and Kalle Starck told Yle about the company. Virolainen is responsible for Aina’s marketing and addiction psychiatry services. Starck leads the company’s marketing and serves as its chief medical officer in eastern Finland. He is also the chief executive of Rokotepiste.

Virolainen said Aina could compete with large medical centres on price because it has few premises-related costs. However, the services it offers are considerably more limited.

Virolainen and Starck said the clinic could provide quick help for common conditions that are relatively easy to diagnose, as well as for prescription renewals. Some cases of high blood pressure, urinary tract conditions and rashes could be treated this way.

Government proposes a larger role for pharmacies

The government has recently proposed legislation aimed at developing pharmacy operations. According to the government, the goal is for pharmacies to form a functioning whole with social and healthcare services.

Katri Hämeen-Anttila, a professor of social pharmacy at the University of Eastern Finland, said on Yle’s morning programme that Finland has sought for several government terms to integrate pharmacies more closely into social and healthcare services.

She described remote doctor services as an interesting initiative, but said they serve customers who can afford to pay for them.

Hämeen-Anttila leads a research project on future pharmacy services and funding models in Finland. She said private services available through pharmacies could also be funded with public money. The project report will be published in March and could be used in negotiations on the next government programme, she said.

Hämeen-Anttila added that development in this direction has taken place in several countries.

Pharmacists could free up healthcare resources

The Association of Finnish Pharmacies has also called for pharmacies to have a larger role in healthcare.

Inka Puumalainen, the association’s pharmaceutical director, said limited resources in public healthcare have increased the need to expand the role of pharmacies as part of social and healthcare services.

Since May 2024, pharmacists and senior pharmacists have been allowed to administer vaccinations. In other parts of Europe and the world, pharmacies have taken on similar responsibilities. In Britain, for example, pharmacies can provide treatment for some health problems without a doctor.

Puumalainen and Hämeen-Anttila said the change would require nationwide structural reforms.

Virolainen and Starck hope pharmacy staff will be able to work more closely with doctors in the future. Starck said they were building a new transformation in healthcare. Virolainen said the right of pharmacists to administer drug injections should, for example, be reassessed.

Demand for driving licence examinations

Virolainen and Starck presented Yle with Aina’s new pharmacy clinic in Kouvola. Services available there include vaccinations, ear irrigation, driving licence examinations and prescription renewals. Services vary between locations, but most offer a connection to a doctor for prescription renewals.

Virolainen described the Kouvola location as one of the company’s flagship sites because it offers a wide range of services. A nurse also works there as an employee of Hansa Pharmacy.

Hämeen-Anttila’s research project is examining future pharmacy services and funding models, with its report due in March.