General terms of Kallio Terveys

Finnish version updated 25 February 2024. The change history of the general conditions is here.

Purpose of the service

Kallio Terveys is the auxiliary company name and telemedicine service of Jukka Hietalahti, Licentiate of Medicine. The company name is Medi-Kallio (Finnish business ID: 2753661-4).

The term for the user of Kallio Terveys services (patient) in this text is ”customer” unless a general description of patient’s status is given (which also applies to customers of Kallio Terveys). The general terms of a private service provider are preempted by legislation and official regulatory guidance.

Requirements for using and restrictions on providing the service

Kallio Terveys provides services to persons of legal age (18 years and older).

Kallio Terveys does not provide services in medical emergencies or complaints that need examining the patient in person. Telemedicine is not always suitable for yearly checkups of common diseases, nor is it appropriate for investigating the cause of symptoms. In these cases, examining the patient in person is relevant.

Kallio Terveys does not:

• prescribe drugs that mainly act on the central nervous system or may be intoxicating
• write doctor’s notes or medical certificates, which require either an examination of the patient or extensive familiarity with the patient’s previous medical records
• treat hypothyroidism with other drugs than laevothyroxine products with marketing authorisation
• prescribe sex hormones, DHEA, or low-dose naltrexone
• provide treatment for mental disorders or addiction disorders.

PrEP requires a commitment to the treatment plan. It is necessary to test for HIV regularly while on PrEP. A prescription for PrEP cannot be provided without a recent HIV test (HIVAgAb, or HIV antigen/antibody test as a laboratory test). The customer has to adhere to the follow-up laboratory test scheme that the physician sees fit (STI tests, kidney function tests).

There are few contraindications for PrEP (i.e., medical reasons not to use PrEP). The absolute contraindications are:

• HIV positivity or uncertain HIV status
• significant allergy/hypersensitivity to a key ingredient of the drug
• significantly impaired kidney function

Persons with active hepatitis B infection should primarily consult public healthcare for PrEP, as the sudden interruption of PrEP may, in the worst cases, cause the hepatitis B infection to become more acute (”flare”).

You find a description of the PrEP visits at Kallio Terveys here.

Kallio Terveys handles sensitive data concerning e.g., customers’ sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual activities, and substance use. Healthcare professionals are obliged by law to professional secrecy and confidentiality regarding the content of patient appointments and patient data. This professional duty of secrecy may be only breached in exceptional circumstances granted by the law. Kallio Terveys uses Acute as its Electronic Patient Record system and Nordhealth Connect as its secure remote communication service. Both information systems are commonly used in the Finnish healthcare sector and are approved and supervised by National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira). More on data security and collection of personal data in the Privacy policy of Kallio Terveys.

Remote healthcare requires strong electronic identification. Thus the customer has to have either online banking codes of a Finnish bank (OP cooperative banks, Nordea, Danske Bank, S-Bank, Saving Banks, Handelsbanken, Aktia Bank, POP Bank cooperative banks, Oma Savings Bank, Bank of Åland) or Finnish Mobile ID in their use. Without online banking codes or Mobile ID remote appointments in Kallio Terveys are not possible. The service is for persons of legal age (18 and over), so acting on behalf of a minor is not possible. The service is primarily for persons who use laboratory services in Finland.

To use the service, the customer needs: a means of communication with a fast enough internet connection for videotelephony equipped with a camera and a microphone; a functioning email address; a personal telephone number; a postal address, where they can be reached.

Creation of the service contract

The service contract between Kallio Terveys and the customer comes into effect, when the customer books an appointment. By booking an appointment, the customer accepts the General terms of Kallio Terveys that are in effect when the booking is made. Changes to the terms (excl. corrections of typos and stylizations) are here. By accepting the General terms the customer consents to the data processing as described in the Privacy policy of Kallio Terveys.

Pricing of the services and cancellation policy

The services of Kallio Terveys are charged according to the pricing plan of Kallio Terveys in effect at the moment of the booking of the appointment. If the customer does not pay on time, the customer is liable to pay the possible reminder fees, penalty interest, and collection costs.

The appointment may be cancelled free of charge a minimum of eight hours before the start of the appointment. After this, the appointment cannot be cancelled. Cancelling the appointment is possible through the online booking page of Kallio Terveys. Should the booking page be down or not operational, the customer has to send a message through remote communication service⇗, an SMS to +358 45 7838 334, or an email to info@kallioterveys.fi) eight hours before the appointment.

An appointment is a no-show, if the customer fails to arrive to remote appointment, or to notify of technical issues by phone, via SMS or through remote communication channel maximum 15 minutes after the scheduled start of the remote appointment. The fee is charged for a no-show according to the pricing plan without possible discounts.

Billing and payment methods

The customer may choose the method of billing for the remote appointment. The payment term is 14 days. The fee for payment reminder is 5€. Payment reminders will be sent both to the home address and via email. The unpaid invoice will be sent to a debt collection agency. The outstanding invoice transferred to a collection agency for debt collection prevents the customer from further using the services of Kallio Terveys.

The customers may choose the billing method they prefer:

• Invoice by post/mail: The invoice will be sent by post to the customer’s home address. The customer may change the address where they want to receive their invoice via the remote communication service. If the postal address is abroad, the additional cost of posting through the Finnish Post will be added to the bill.
• Invoice via email: The invoice will be sent to the email address provided during the appointment booking (which is also the email address connected with the remote communication service). If the customer prefers a different email address for billing, they may provide another email address via the remote communication service.
• Remote communication service: The invoice will be sent as a PDF file attached to a message via the remote communication service. A notification of a received message in the service is also sent to the email address connected to the remote communication service.

Cancellation of the service due to circumstances beyond our control

Cancellation of the service due to circumstances beyond our control (”force majeure”) is any sudden and unexpected adversity that inhibits providing a remote doctor’s appointment, and wich Kallio Terveys reasonably cannot prevent or remove. Circumstances beyond our control may be, e.g., a sudden illness, unfunctioning telecommunication services, an outage, fire, or flooding. As the main job of the private entrepreneur in Kallio Terveys may involve on-call obligation, an extra shift at the hospital may be the reason for the cancellation of the service on rare occasions; this also counts as circumstances beyond our control.

If an appointment is cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control, Kallio Terveys strives to contact the customer as soon as possible. This takes place by telephone, via SMS, or via email to ensure that the customer is spared the extra inconvenience. Rescheduling may be attempted at the same instance if the customer wishes. Kallio Terveys doesn’t charge the customer for cancellations due to circumstances beyond our control.

Patient rights

The Act on the Status and Rights of Patients in Finnish law decree the patient rights and the status of the patient in the healthcare system. The Act also describes patients’ right to file an objection or a complaint about the treatment received.

The patient has the right to file a notice of injury to Patient Insurance Centre⇗ when they suspect a patient injury. E.g., an adverse reaction or poor effectiveness of a drug or treatment is not per se compensable patient injuries.

The patient ombudsperson advises patients on their rights and their status considering the legislation and works to promote and implement patient rights. A patient ombudsperson also helps filing an objection, a complaint, or a notice of injury, when needed.

On January 1, 2024, the Act on Patient and Social Services Ombudspersons entered into force. According to the act, the Finnish wellbeing services counties provide the services of patient ombudspersons, also in private healthcare.

Since the registered office of Kallio Terveys is in Espoo, the patient ombudsperson of Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County serves the patients of Kallio Terveys.

Kallio Terveys seeks to negotiate any disagreements with the customer. Consumer Advisory Services of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority⇗ serves customers in consumer disagreements. If an agreement is not reached with other means, the dispute is taken to the District Court of Western Uusimaa for a settlement.  

Marketing in Kallio Terveys

Kallio Terveys notifies key changes in its services, pricing, or changes in user interfaces via email a maximum of approximately once a month. Notifications on activities of the business itself are primarily permitted communication unless the customer actively forbids it. The customer may ban email notifications at any time by sending a message forbidding the notifications via email (info@kallioterveys.fi) or the remote communication service (medikallio.connect.nordhealth.com)

Kallio Terveys asks for permission for marketing messages, and only those customers, who have given the permission, will receive marketing messages. Customers who have given permission may receive offers, benefits, or notifications from the cooperation partners of Kallio Terveys. Customers who have given the permission may receive invitations to partake in non-profit surveys or scientific studies. Marketing messages may be sent per post, via email, or SMS. Different kinds of marketing messages are sent a maximum of 12 times a year. Kallio Terveys never hand over customer data to its cooperation partners. The marketing in Kallio Terveys is not targeted based on profiling the customers. The customer may cancel their permission for marketing at any time by sending a message forbidding the marketing via email (info@kallioterveys.fi) or the remote communication service (medikallio.connect.nordhealth.com).