Patient documents

The information and record of your use of medical services included in your patient documents are confidential. Staff members have the right to access patient records based on a treatment relationship or another task that requires accessing patient records. In most cases, disclosure of patient records to another healthcare provider is in accordance with the Act on the Electronic Processing of Client Data in Healthcare and Social Welfare (asiakastietolaki), or the Health Care Act (terveydenhuoltolaki).

We recommend that you give your consent to or refuse disclosing your patient records via My Kanta. You can express your consent or refusal concerning Kanta services also in any healthcare unit that best suits you, for example your local health center.

If the healthcare provider is has not joined the Patient Data Repository (Kanta services), you may use the form below to express your consent to or refusal for disclosing and requesting your or your dependant’s patient records.

If you want to know who has recorded or read your patient data, you have the right to receive the patient register log data related to your patient data for the last two years using the Patient Register Access Log Request form or a free-form request. 

If you suspect that your data has been processed without a basis, you can request a written explanation using the Request for Clarification on the Processing of Patient Data form. You can also request a written clarification using a free-form request. Whichever way you will use, record the grounds and the information you already know as a basis for requesting clarification. A request for clarification may also be made by a guardian or other legal representative.

If an adult is unable to make decisions on their treatment, case-by-case consideration shall be given to granting the right to the next of kin or another legal representative to inspect the patient register’s log data.

In addition, the guardian of a minor does not automatically have the right to access the child's log data, but the request for log data of a minor aged 12–17 must, as a rule, be submitted by the minor themselves.

If your request for report concerns information visible in My Kanta or disclosure of you patient records, attaching screen captures of the sections in My Kanta you wish to clarify will speed up the request.

This is because the My Kanta view is a personal to the patient and HUS cannot access it. Therefore, we cannot check how the information is presented in My Kanta.

Your rights regarding patient records are defined in these laws and regulations: 
Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on Patient Documents (94/2022) (in Finnish)
Act on the Electronic Processing of Client Data in Social and Health Care Services  (in Finnish)
Act on the Status and Rights of Patients (785/1992)

You can view and print out your own patient data from My Kanta, where you have access to your own data. Data stored before autumn 2014 will not be displayed in the My Kanta online service.

You can also request your patient documents electronically via HUS’s information service. Register as a user for the Suomi.fi-viestit service and then fill in an electronic patient document request (in Finnish). In the electronic service, you can only request your own patient documents.

The electronic patient document request(in Finnish)

In order to expedite the process, it is a good idea to identify the documents to be ordered, the years when treatment was provided, and the hospitals where you know you have received treatment or undergone examinations. We will return an unspecified or unclear patient document request for clarification. 

When ordering data copies using a paper form, print out, fill in and post the form in accordance with the instructions at the bottom of the form to the archives of the hospital in question. You can also devise a free-form letter indicating the information required in the form.

Requesting patient documents over the phone is not possible due to data security concerns.

Delivery times for ordered documents depend on how demanding and extensive the request is. Generally, we are able to deliver the documents within 5 to 30 days.

In order to expedite the process, it is a good idea to identify the documents to be ordered, the years when treatment was provided, and the hospitals where you know you have received treatment or undergone examinations. We will return an unspecified or unclear patient document request for clarification. 

X-rays and other image copies of imaging studies can be ordered from HUS Medical Imaging Center using the center’s own form.

If you wish to enact your right under the EU General Data Protection Regulation, please use the form below. The signed form should be sent by post to the HUS Central Registry.

In HUS, parents have the right to access medical records of their children under the age of 12.

If a guardian requests, in writing, HUS to provide information of a minor aged 12–17, the minor in question needs to sign a written consent for the request, or submit a signed information request.

If a minor aged 12–17 is able to decide on their treatment, they have the right to refuse disclosure of the information on their state of health and treatment to their guardian or other legal representative.

The physician or other professionals will assess the development level of a child or adolescent in issues related to treatment. In addition, the guardian of a minor child does also not automatically have the right to access the child's log data, but the request for log data must, as a rule, be submitted by the child themselves. 

If there is any doubt as to the identity of the minor patient’s guardian, the hospital has the right to request proof of custody from the person requesting access to patient records before the information is disclosed. In a case where parents have joint custody of the child and if the child's official home address is different from the guardian requesting information, a copy of the court's joint custody decision or a joint custody agreement shall be attached to the information copy request form. Otherwise, the information will be provided addressed to the child to the child's home address in accordance with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s address data.  

The personal data in the patient register must be accurate and, if necessary, updated and you have the right to require that any inaccurate and incorrect personal data concerning you be rectified. You can file a demand for rectification using a form or a free-form letter indicating the matters set out in the form. It is essential that you identify as accurately as possible the information that needs to be corrected or erased.

If your rectification request concerns information in My Kanta or disclosure of you patient records, please attach screen captures or copies of the sections in My Kanta you wish to be rectified or corrected. This will speed up the process.

Send the request for rectification to HUS Central Registry, P.O. Box 200, FI-00029 HUS. 

Patient documents cannot be completely deleted. The preparation of patient records and their use as support for treatment is a task performed pursuant to Finnish legislation. As a rule, the retention period for patient documents is 12 years from the date of death and the retention period is laid down in the Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (in Finnish).

We may only provide information about you to your next of kin with your consent. If providing a consent is not possible, for example, due to your illness, we may provide patient information to your next of kin, unless there is reason to believe that you would prohibit doing so. In such circumstances, we may not provide information on you to any other persons than your next of kin. Another person’s patient documents can only be ordered by filling out a paper form or devising a free-form letter, read also Request for information on behalf of another adult.

You may request the patient records of another adult with the printed request for information, if you enclose a power of attorney form or another legal document proving that you are authorized to request the patient records.

For technical reasons, our electronic patient records request form is only for requesting your personal information.

Learn more about acting on behalf of another person and requests for information.

Patient documents are confidential even after a patient's death. The deceased person's patient records may be disclosed only to the extent necessary to clarify or exercise the important interests or rights of the person requesting them. The person requesting the information shall not have the right to unrestricted access to the deceased's patient records. The request must always state the purpose of use, i.e., the grounds for disclosure.

The request can be made using the form below or a free-form request. The signed form will be sent by post to the HUS Central Registry at: HUS Central Registry, P.O. Box 200, FI-00029 HUS. 

Your data regarding health and social services is stored in the Apotti system, but professionals using the Apotti system are only able to access your information for which they have permission to access. The Apotti patient information system used by HUS includes a customer portal called Maisa.