Registers of social welfare and health care professionals (Terhikki and Suosikki)
Valvira maintains central registers of social welfare and health care professionals in order to discharge its supervisory duties. The registers are provided for in the Act on Health Care Professionals and the Act on Social Welfare Professionals. A person is entered in the relevant register once they have been granted the right to practise their profession in social welfare or health care in Finland. The register lists the validity of rights to practise and any supervisory details recorded. A person entered in the register may have one or more concurrently valid rights to practise. The registers do not include details on whether the persons registered are currently employed in their profession.
Personal details
The personal details entered in the registers of social welfare and health care professionals are the details specified in Finland’s Population Information System.
Registration number
The registration number is a technical 11-digit number. A registration number is assigned to all professionals entered in the register of health care professionals (Terhikki) or the register of social welfare professionals (Suosikki).
The registration number is used to uniquely identify professionals, for instance for verification and in national health care IT services. A person’s registration number can be found in the public information services of the registers, JulkiTerhikki and JulkiSuosikki. Use either the name of the person or their registration number as the search term.
Doctor ID
Previously known as the ‘health insurance number’ (SV number), this identifier was renamed the ‘Doctor ID’ in 2009. The Doctor ID is used for instance on prescriptions, medical certificates and referrals to examinations and treatment.
Valvira issues a Doctor ID to physicians, to dentists and also to registered nurses, dental hygienists and opticians licensed to prescribe medications. Students of medicine and dentistry are issued a Doctor ID when they have completed at least four years of studies and are entered in the register of health care professionals (Terhikki). They will retain the same Doctor ID beyond their graduation.
Disclosure of data
Disclosure of data from the registers of professionals is described in detail in the privacy statements of the registers, which can be found at the bottom of this page.
Public information service
The professional qualifications of social welfare and health care professionals can be verified in the public information service maintained by Valvira for the registers of social welfare and health care professionals (JulkiSuosikki and JulkiTerhikki, respectively). The content of the information service is described in the privacy statement. The data in the information service are updated once a day.
Extract from the register or Certificate of Current Professional Status (EU Certificate)
You can order an extract from the register or an EU Certificate in the Valvira online service. A fee is charged for both of these certificates according to the currently valid Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Statistics
You can order quantitative statistics on the registers of professionals by sending an e-mail to Valvira via our secure e-mail service (in Finnish). A fee according to the Decree on fees will be charged for disclosure of data to such an order. Quantitative statistics on rights to practise are also available as open-source data.