How to deploy the query and forwarding service

The implementation of the query and forwarding service will be phased and may take 1 to 2 years, depending on factors like the organisation’s schedule and the status of the system it uses. Support and guidance are available for deployment.

These user instructions are intended for public authorities and other organisations outside the healthcare sector.

Before starting deployment

Find out which certificates stored in the Kanta Services your organisation needs and is legally entitled to. Report the information to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

Start preparations for deployment by identifying which healthcare certificates or data therein your organisation needs for its service provision. Please note that certificates must be recorded by healthcare services in the Kanta Services and your organisation must be legally entitled to receive them.

At the same time, identify how you need to obtain the information on the certificate: 

  • by receiving certificates forwarded by the healthcare services via the forwarding service 
  • by requesting information from a specific certificate through the query service. 

This need determines whether your organisation will deploy the query service, the forwarding service or both. 

Check THL’s and Kela’s instructions:

Instructions on the conditions for joining the service for organisations outside the healthcare sector (pdf, thl.fi, in Finnish)Regulation on documents to be forwarded to parties outside the healthcare sector (pdf, thl.fi, in Finnish)Functional specifications of the query and forwarding service (in Finnish)For a list of certificates to be stored in Kanta and those under development, see the page on the specifications of medical certificates (in Finnish)

If the certificate your organisation needs cannot yet be stored in Kanta, please agree on a process for specifying data content with THL. For more information, please email sotetiedonhallinta@thl.fi.

Submit a report to THL

Once you have identified your organisation’s needs and the basis for deploying the service, please inform THL of the following: 

  • what healthcare certificates or information therein will be forwarded to your organisation
  • the law on which the forwarding is based 
  • whether you are deploying the query service, the forwarding service, or both. 

Please submit the report via email to sotetiedonhallinta@thl.fi.

If necessary, THL will arrange a meeting to go over the matters described in the report. 

Your information system provider will prepare your system to make it compatible with the Kanta Services.

The organisations using the query and forwarding service are organisations outside the healthcare sector. As a result, their systems are not subject to the same certification requirements as those of social welfare and healthcare operators.

However, your system needs to be approved by Kela and THL in order to use the query and forwarding service.

Your information system provider will develop the system in parallel with other preparations for deployment.

Information system guidelines

At the initial meeting, you will examine the conditions for joining as a user and the timetable for deployment together with Kela and THL.

Contact Kela by sending an email to kanta@kanta.fi to arrange the initial meeting. 

During the meeting, representatives from your organisation and experts from Kela and THL will examine the following issues together:

  • your organisation’s information needs and access rights (you will have already notified THL of these)
  • the status of the required certificates and statements
  • the planned process and systems to be used for the transfer of data
  • setting a realistic target schedule for deployment. 

Service deployment

Join the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer and Kanta’s client test environment in order to test the information system used by your organisation.

In order to enable the required connections to the Kanta Services, your organisation must first join the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer provided by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV).

Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer (dvv.fi)

The organisation can then connect to the Kanta Services client test service, which is provided in the Kanta client test environment. The application to join as a user of the service is usually submitted by the information system provider. If you have a test environment, you can also join the Kanta Service’s client test service yourself, if necessary. 

For more information on the client test environment, please email kanta@kanta.fi and consult the client test service’s instructions for joining the service. 

Instructions for joining the Kanta client test service (pdf, in Finnish)Application to join the Patient Data Repository’s client test service (xls, in Finnish)

Once the connections are enabled, the information system provider will continue with system development to make it compatible with the Kanta Services.

In order to use the query and forwarding service, your organisation’s data must be available in the THL Code Service.

Please send the following information to koodistopalvelu@thl.fi: 

  • the official name of the organisation 
  • the organisation’s business ID
  • whether the organisation will use the query service, the forwarding service or both
  • the date from which the service is planned to be deployed
  • The names in Finnish and Swedish of the data content to be transmitted via the query and forwarding service, and any abbreviations (e.g. Medical report on the need for special maternity leave SV 97). 

THL will add the information tothe Messaging – Message recipient code set in the National Code Service (koodistopalvelu.kanta.fi, in Finnish).

Ensure that your organisation’s data protection and data security policies are in order. Draw up a data security plan and submit it to THL.

To be able to use Kanta Services, an organisation must have an up-to-date and documented data security plan. THL has issued a regulation on the reports and requirements to be included in the data security plan (pdf, thl.fi, in Finnish). It is binding on social welfare and healthcare service providers and also serves as a guideline for organisations outside the healthcare sector.

You can use the data security plan template to help you develop a data security plan or to supplement your organisation’s existing data security plan for the deployment of the Kanta Services. 

Data security plan template (docx, thl.fi, in Finnish)

Please email the data security plan to THL at sotetiedonhallinta@thl.fi. THL can also provide you with more information on the content of the data security plan.

Provide induction for your staff on the use of the service. Also agree on your organisation’s policies.

Before you start using the service, make sure that your organisation’s staff have the necessary skills to use the information system. To this end, it is a good idea to designate the main users of the future system and make a plan to ensure their competence. 

Agree on organisational policies internally and together with the information system provider. Examples of policies to be agreed upon include system access rights and access management. Through shared practices, you can ensure that data is processed securely within your organisation.

Arrange a meeting with Kela and THL to ensure that your organisation is ready to join the service.

The meeting will examine whether the necessary preparations for deployment have been made. At this stage, the information system used by your organisation must also be approved. 

Representatives of your organisation, Kela and THL will attend the meeting to approve the conditions of joining. The information system provider may also participate in the meeting, if necessary. A Kela representative will take notes of the meeting and send them to all participants.

To arrange a meeting, send an email to kanta@kanta.fi.

Apply via email to become a user of the query and forwarding service no later than two weeks before you plan to deploy the service.

Once the conditions for joining have been approved, Kela will send you an email with 

  • the service description and an approval form for the query and forwarding service
  • the general terms of delivery of the Kanta Services
  • a commitment to become a client of the Kanta Services
  • a list of the necessary technical information and roles, and contact persons.

After this, submit an application to become a user of the service by sending the following documents to kanta@kanta.fi:

  • your signed commitment to become a client of the Kanta Services
  • a signed service description approval form 
  • your organisation’s technical information and contact details.

Kela will notify you via email once your application has been approved. 

Conduct a deployment test of the query and forwarding service together with the system provider and the healthcare organisation. Send a report of the successfully completed deployment test to Kela.

The deployment test involves entering the data for a specified test case at a predetermined time. This will ensure that the certificate or information content you need can be received by the information system you are using. 

Request deployment test instructions and a test case by emailing Kela at kanta@kanta.fi.

Agree on the schedule and procedures for the deployment test with the information system provider and, where appropriate, with the healthcare organisation. Kela will not participate in the deployment test.

Send a report on the deployment test to Kela

Send a report of a successfully completed deployment test to Kela at kanta@kanta.fi.

Kanta Services deployment test report (pdf, in Finnish)

After deployment

You may deploy the service in production use as soon as the deployment test is successfully completed. You will have access to support during your customer relationship.

Once the service is up and running, review the action to be taken in the event of a fault and follow the maintenance and disruption notifications on kanta.fi.

If you have any problems using the service or there are changes in your organisation, please inform Kela by sending an email to kanta@kanta.fi. The most common changes that need to be reported to Kela are changes to contact persons or the system, a change in the name of the organisation and a change in the business ID.