10 years of My Kanta Pages – anniversary year of Kanta Services starts
The Kanta Services marks its tenth anniversary this spring. During the past decade, we have travelled a long way from manually written prescriptions to a digital world, which has now become indispensable.
Today, everyone can view their diagnosis and prescription data or laboratory test results from the comfort of their homes. Accessing services via My Kanta Pages is now taken for granted, but only ten years ago we received our medical data in a letter delivered by post.
Currently, more than half of Finnish citizens are using My Kanta Pages, and the user numbers are rising further. During the corona epidemic, digital services have eased the congestion of telephone lines and health centres.
“In May 2010, the number of visitors to My Kanta Pages was 65. This spring the number of logins has been up to 2.3 million per month,” says Kela’s Director of Information Services Marina Lindgren.
First electronic prescription was issued in Turku
With the Kanta Services, information moves not only to people at home, but also between social welfare and healthcare professionals and pharmacies, regardless of time or place. The entity consists of many different services.
The first services to be deployed were My Kanta Pages and the prescription service. The first electronic prescription in Finland was issued in a live event in Turku on 20 May 2010.
“Finland was one of the first countries to start using electronic prescriptions and begin building a harmonised information management system for social welfare and healthcare services that covers the entire country. We have shown the way ahead for others, too,” Lindgren recalls.
The next big step was taken when, in addition to prescriptions, we also started to enter patient data in the Kanta Services in autumn 2012.
“Over the years, the cultural change for healthcare professionals has been enormous, but we have achieved so much together. Currently, social welfare data is being included in the system, and in the future it will be possible to also access this data via My Kanta Pages.
My Kanta Pages is regarded as a basic right
In the course of the years, Finnish citizens have adopted My Kanta Pages as part of their daily lives. The service is also developed constantly on the basis of the citizens’ wishes.
“Feedback clearly indicates that My Kanta Pages is already regarded as a basic right. It is now viewed as a necessity. It has also created a new way of interaction between professionals and clients and promoted clearer recording of patient data,” relates Outi Lehtokari, Kela’s Senior Specialist on the Kanta Services.
Customer-driven development of Kanta Services
The vision for the future of the Kanta Services is to support active participation by individuals and that way facilitate the work of social welfare and healthcare services.
“In the future, My Kanta Pages will be able to provide extensive support for people to look after their own wellbeing. Via the service, you could ask for instructions and advice and to receive reminders in relation to your own health. For example, data collected by an activity band could also be recorded for viewing by professionals,” Lindgren outlines.
The basic task of the Kanta Services will be maintained also in the future. Every day, millions of items of patient and client data travel securely between social welfare and healthcare professionals, which safeguards the high standard of care and services.
In the next few years, international exchange of information in Europe will also increase. It is currently possible to purchase medicines with a Finnish prescription in Estonia and Croatia, and soon also in Portugal. Other countries will also be joining the scheme. In the future, it will also be possible to introduce a European patient summary, i.e. basic patient data, which could be accessed by doctors treating the patient.