Digital healthcare systems in Finland face challenges despite decades of availability

Health data in Finland has been digital for decades, which should ideally make it easily accessible for those who need it. However, this is not always the case. A recent inquiry by Yle to various welfare regions revealed that there are six primary patient information systems in use: Terveys Lifecare, Pegasos, Esko, Uranus, Mediatri, and Apotti. Notably, the study did not include social care patient information systems or those designed for intensive care or dental treatments. In Lapland alone, there are over 400 subsystems in place.

When data fails to transfer between systems, patients may need to undergo duplicate tests or be prescribed the same medications again, leading to delays in treatment and potentially causing patient suffering, according to Jukka Mielonen, the digital director of the South Savonia welfare region. Several welfare regions operate multiple primary patient information systems, resulting in extra work and costs. Smooth and secure communication among various systems is not always achievable, complicating the management of vital information.

Terveys Lifecare, maintained by Tieto Evry, is currently the most popular patient information system among welfare regions. Many regions using multiple systems plan to transition entirely to Terveys Lifecare within the next year, as is the case in South Savonia and Central Finland.

The integration of client and patient information systems is underway and should be completed by the end of 2026. Municipalities adopted these systems mainly in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when health services were managed at the municipal level. Currently, the government has no plans to create a unified national patient information system, despite the fact that such a system is theoretically possible, as seen in emergency services.

Welfare regions spend millions on licensing for these systems annually, with North Ostrobothnia allocating 15 million euros for the upkeep of five systems this year alone. However, these sums represent only a fraction of the overall budgets, such as the approximately 0.5% spent by South Savonia. The comparability of these figures is complicated by the different stages of system integration across regions.