Users and stakeholders of Kanta
The Kanta Services work in close cooperation with various stakeholders. Cooperation helps to ensure that the Kanta Services support everyday work in social welfare and healthcare services, complement regional services and promote the smooth mobility of data.
Wellbeing services counties and other public social welfare and healthcare providers, private service providers and pharmacies are responsible for ensuring that the information systems they use are compatible with the Kanta Services. Actors are also responsible for the deployment of the Kanta Services in their own organisation. The deployments are planned in cooperation with the information system providers.
Smooth cooperation with the wellbeing services counties and other social welfare and healthcare organisations is essential for the development of the Kanta Services. In the networks and meetings, up-to-date information is shared, issues raised by the counties are discussed and valuable views are gained to support the development of services.
Practical cooperation:
- Meetings by wellbeing services county: separate events for healthcare and social welfare services. A contact person has been appointed for each wellbeing services county in the Kanta Services.
- Preparation of the development of the Kanta Services and roadmap in cooperation with the wellbeing services counties in annual workshops.
- Cooperation meetings forming around the main information systems. The participants are always the system provider, the wellbeing services counties using the system in question, Kela and THL (so-called “neliapila” meeting).
- Training and events organised by Kanta for social welfare and healthcare providers.
Several different patient and client information systems are used in Finland. System providers design their systems to be compatible with the Kanta Services.
Cooperation with system providers ensures that client and patient information systems related to the Kanta Services function smoothly and consistently. The cooperation addresses future developments, functionalities and practical issues related to deployments.
Practical cooperation:
- Provider cooperation meetings for the providers of patient, client and pharmacy systems.
- Bilateral meetings to discuss system-specific needs and solutions.
- Cooperation meetings forming around the main information systems. The participants are always the system provider, the wellbeing services counties using the system in question, Kela and THL (so-called “neliapila” meeting).
- Comments on technical specifications, dialogue on joint testing and certification, and workshops in which functionalities are developed.
The experiences of users are taken into account in the development of the Kanta Services. Kanta is developed by means of service design, in a customer-oriented manner and in interaction with users.
An important forum for hearing the needs of different user groups is Kanta’s two-year panel for organisations, where representatives of NGOs can have a say in the development of the Kanta Services.
The panel for organisations collects experiences and observations and produces information to support the development of the Kanta Services. It is an excellent opportunity to have a say in the development of the Kanta Services. Through the panel, up-to-date information is also shared on how the Kanta Services are developed.
The participants include several patient organisations and advocacy organisations for different population groups, such as the elderly, young people and people with disabilities. During the term of office of 2026–2027, 20 organisations are included in the panel and the panel meets twice a year.
The term of the current panel for organisations ends at the end of 2027. The call for participants for the next term of the panel for organisations will be announced on our website and social media channels.
The management and experts at the Kanta Services engage in dialogue with decision-makers and ministries and offer their expertise to various working groups. Public affairs work is aimed to ensure that the Kanta Services are developing and that the benefits they provide will be made effectively available to society. Public affairs work related to the Kanta Services and digitalisation is carried out actively at Kela.
The data stored in the Kanta Services can also be utilised in so-called secondary use, such as in research and knowledge-based management. Kela can process the data stored in Kanta into a format that is easier to use and deliver data to parties that have a statutory right of access. In addition, Kela uses the knowledge base to develop various information products, such as reports, statistics and indicators.
Kela also participates actively in the authorities’ cooperation in the management of health and social services, which is coordinated by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. In the cooperation, development projects of different authorities are integrated and the mobility and interoperability of data are ensured. Kela is involved in steering and monitoring groups and, on request, participates in the preparation, monitoring and events of the projects of various actors managing social welfare and healthcare data.
Kanta is involved in international cooperation networks and EU projects that promote the smooth and secure movement of health data in Europe.
The EHDS Regulation is an EU regulation that provides citizens with better opportunities to control their health data and healthcare professionals with better access to patient data regardless of which country the patient lives or is treated in. Kanta is involved in preparing the implementation of the EHDS Regulation in related projects.
Xt-EHR
The project prepares for the requirements of the European EHDS legislation in the primary use of health data. The aim of the project is to enhance cooperation between the EU Member States to ensure that patient data will be interoperable and health data can be transmitted smoothly and safely between countries.
MyHealth@MyHands project
The MyHealth@MyHands project aims to promote the mobility of health data and improve the continuity of care and patient safety in Europe. As part of the implementation of the EHDS, the project will develop citizens’ opportunities to control their health data.
FLaReS
The FLaReS project expands cross-border European services to also include laboratory data.
MaCoDeExSe
The MaCoDeExSe project develops and maintains cross-border services used in Finland, such as ePrescriptions and Patient Summaries.
Partners and cooperation between authorities
Kela, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have their own areas of responsibility in the development of the Kanta Services. Other authorities also play an important role in Kanta as a whole.
Kela is responsible for the practical development and maintenance of the Kanta Services. Kela coordinates and supports service providers in the deployment of the Kanta Services, organises events and training related to deployments, and actively communicates with clients and stakeholders.
Kela takes care of the technical implementation, technical specifications, information system architecture and client support of the Kanta Services and of the production of functional specifications for systems related to the Kanta services. Kela is also responsible for joint testing and the technical implementation of the code service.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is responsible for the operational planning of the Kanta Services and supports the operational changes associated with the deployment of the services.
THL participates in the deployments as an expert on the content and operating models of social welfare and healthcare services. It supports and trains social welfare and healthcare professionals, for example, in how the data are recorded in their client and patient data systems.
THL is responsible for the key requirements and maintenance of the Kanta Services and related information systems, including the regulations on essential operational and essential information security requirements.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for the general strategic steering and funding of the Kanta Services.
The Ministry is responsible for defining the objectives and development path of information management in social welfare and healthcare services and those of the Kanta Services and monitors the results. The Ministry takes care of customer and stakeholder cooperation at the strategic level and prepares legislation concerning the Kanta Services.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency maintains the central registers of social welfare and healthcare professionals (Terhikki and Suosikki registers) and certain code sets. The data of the registers is needed in the national information systems of social welfare and healthcare services.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency also supervises the fulfilment of the key requirements of information systems intended for the processing of the client data in social welfare services and the patient data in healthcare services.
The Digital and Population Data Services Agency is responsible for the identification and certificate services of information system services.
It must be possible to reliably identify and verify persons who use information systems, archive services and electronic prescription systems. It must be possible to sign documents and prescriptions electronically. The identification of persons and electronic signatures are implemented by means of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s certificate services and by managing units’ access rights.