Social welfare services client data stored in Kanta
- is stored securely
- is easily available and up-to-date for use by social welfare professionals
- may also be shared with other social welfare service providers than the one who created the data, with the client’s consent
- is stored in a standardised format, which makes it possible to e.g. assess the quality of the service
- can be viewed by the client on the My Kanta Pages to allow them to be more involved in handling their affairs.
Only social welfare client data can be entered in the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services. It is not yet possible to store patient data generated within social welfare services in Kanta.
Functionalities of the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services
The functionalities of the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services are developed in phases. Service providers will gain most advantage of the archive when they deploy the functionalities of the latest phase.
Functionalities required for compliance with the obligation to join Kanta Services under the Client Data Act
With the new functions of the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services, social welfare service providers will comply the requirements of the Client Data Act. These functionalities are
- the sharing of social welfare client data within the social welfare services
- recording of structured documents (mandatory functionality).
Social welfare service providers will be able to introduce the new functionalities in phases from 2023 onwards as soon as the necessary changes have been made to the client information systems. Public service providers and private service providers acting on behalf of public-sector provider must have the functionalities in place as specified in the obligation to join by 1 September 2024.
Phase 2 functionalities of the archive improve the accessibility of data
The phase 2 functionalities of the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services are:
- register access right of social welfare services
- recording of structured documents (optional functionality)
- processing of mutual cases
- electronic signature of professionals
- processing of data that is subject to personal data access restriction.
Social welfare service providers have been able to deploy phase 2 functionalities since 2020 if the client data system they are using supports the new functionalities.
Client Data Act obliges social welfare professionals to join Kanta
The Client Data Act, which entered into force in 2021, expands the use of the Kanta services in social welfare. Public and private social welfare service providers will start using the Kanta services within the transitional periods defined in the act. The transition period will continue either until September 2024 or January 2026.
Social welfare data on the My Kanta Pages
In the future, the client will be able to view the data stored about them in the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services through the MyKanta pages.
On the MyKanta pages, the client can
- follow the progress of their case
- access the social welfare documents concerning them in accordance with their legal rights
- check the data on when the client relationship began and about their case worker.
It will become possible to display social welfare client data on the My Kanta Pages in early 2023. In practice, data sharing will begin in stages as social welfare service providers make the necessary changes to their client data systems. It will only be possible to display documents on the MyKanta Pages that have been stored in the archive in accordance with phase 2 or a more recent phase.
- The Kanta Services handbook for social services: My Kanta Pages (yhteistyotilat.fi, in Finnish)
- Guidance on the use of the My Kanta Pages
Controller is responsible for the data in the archive
The data entered in the client data archive for social welfare services belongs to the controller in whose register it is entered. Client data produced in social welfare services must be entered directly in the appropriate register in the client data archive for social welfare services. Every controller is responsible for the contents and correctness of their own register.
Controller is a public service organiser
In public social welfare services, the controller of client data is the competent authority responsible for organising the services. A public service organiser acts as controller also when the client visits a private social welfare provider, for example, with a service voucher.
Controller is a private service provider
A private service provider can act as controller only in the case of a privately implemented social service, which is based on a contract between the service provider and the client and which is paid by the client.
All private service providers must have appropriate, valid licences or notices on acting as a social care provider.
Data security and sharing of data
Client data in social welfare services can be viewed and used only when the data is needed in the management of the client’s affairs. When the data is viewed in the client data archive for social welfare services, it will always leave a trace. Log data is used in order to monitor that the data is used lawfully.
Sharing of social welfare data
Client data stored in the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services is always available to the controller who stored it. If client data is retrieved from another social welfare data controller’s data file, this constitutes data sharing for which client consent is required.
The Client Data Act enables the sharing of data between social welfare controllers as of 1 January 2023.
- Sharing of data through the Kanta services
- Consent and denials of consent to data sharing in social welfare services
Common operating models and recording
The healthcare and social welfare service providers using the Kanta Services comply with harmonised national operating models and methods. These include, e.g. harmonised recording practices, procedures in accordance with the self-monitoring plan in everyday tasks, principles of using and sharing data, and ensuring the functioning of Kanta Services in change situations.
- National operating models
- Structures and data contents of client documents: Specifications for client data in social welfare services (thl.fi, in Finnish)
- Functional specifications for the provision of social welfare services (thl.fi, in Finnish)
In the process of deploying the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services?
Information about the deployment materials.