Priorities for the Kanta Services in 2024 have been confirmed
In 2024, the development of the Kanta Services will focus on updating MyKanta and on support for the development of digitalisation in health care and social welfare services organisations.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and Kela have published the 2024 priorities for the Kanta Services. As Kanta operates in an ever-changing environment, development priorities will be reviewed as necessary during the year. The development of the Kanta Services is part of a broader strategy for digitalisation and information management in the health care and social welfare services sector.
Promoting data mobility
The Kanta Services promote data mobility within and between health care and social welfare sectors and from clients to social welfare and health care services.
The Act on the Processing of Client Data in Social Welfare and Health Care (Client Data Act), which will enter into force on 1 January 2024, will enable, among other things, the retrieval of social welfare client data from Kanta using an extensive right of access, and the disclosure of wellbeing data to health care and social welfare services professionals.
Data mobility outside health care will also be promoted. With the help of the Delivery of Medical Certificates, certificates and statements prepared in health care and stored in Kanta can also be transmitted electronically to achieve faster processing times. The use of the service will expand in the near future, as new recipients will be added to it in addition to Kela and Traficom.
The recording of social welfare transfer notifications in Kanta will also be developed. Social welfare clients have the right to receive information on the use and sharing of their client data and the reasons for the sharing of the data. The service provider must therefore collect log data on a register-specific basis and stores them in the Kanta Services' log register storage service. The client can view the log data later in MyKanta.
The updating of MyKanta continues
The user interface development of the Kanta PHR, which has already begun, will continue during 2024. The Health Data section and new prohibitions in accordance with the Client Data Act are next to be implemented in the new user interface, and prescription functionalities will be improved based on user feedback.
With the updates to MyKanta, the service can be better integrated into the wellbeing services counties' own e-services. For example, a user can be directed from the area's e-service to renew their prescription in MyKanta using a single login to Suomi.fi. In this way, the user would have as seamless and smooth a service path as possible in regional and national digital services.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has decided on the implementation of the MyKanta mobile application in 2024. Users of MyKanta have requested development of the application to make mobile use more practical: identification would be fast and secure, and the application could, for example, remind the user to renew a prescription. The mobile application would make things easier for frequent users of MyKanta in particular. The first version of the application is estimated to be released in early 2025.
Development of data content and secondary use of information
The Kanta services will be harmonised and modernised by moving from document structures to an information model-based structure. The HL7 FHIR standard makes the development of national data content more agile in systems connected to Kanta and within the Kanta Services. This makes data easier to use, more consistent and compliant with the latest international standards.
Kanta's long-term goal is for all technical interfaces of Kanta to be based on the HL7 FHIR standard. The transition will be implemented in stages, and the new data contents currently under construction in 2024 (booking health care appointments, notifications of social welfare disclosures and the disclosure of wellbeing data stored by the user in MyKanta to health care and social welfare services professionals) will be made in accordance with the FHIR standard.
The Kanta data platform is a centralised source for the secondary use of health care and social welfare services data – data from the registers of several health and social services providers can be made available in a single place for research purposes. The development of the data platform will continue in 2024. When the data is produced through the Kanta Services, the health care and social welfare services professional will not need to separately produce data for statistical or monitoring purposes, for example. The data is also available for the guidance and management of health care and social welfare services based on effectiveness. The quality of information is improved at different stages of the information life cycle through cooperation between all actors.
Kanta deployment priorities for health care and social welfare organisations in 2024
When deploying the Kanta Services, health care and social welfare service providers must take into account the changes and transition periods outlined in the Client Data Act. The act, which will enter into force on 1 January 2024, will enable
- The consent granted in Kanta will also be applicable to data sharing outside Kanta. This includes, for example, paper copies of patient records or data transmitted electronically by other means than through Kanta.
- Clients will continue to be able to restrict the sharing of their data between health care service providers by setting up denials of consent to data sharing. Clients can also set a comprehensive denial of consent to data sharing, which prevents the sharing of any of their patient data between service providers and registers. The denials of consent set up by a client must also be taken into account when data is being shared outside of Kanta.
- The storage of patient data generated in social welfare services in the Patient Data Repository of the Kanta Services.
The Client Data Act obliges all public and private social welfare service providers to join the Client Data Archive for Social Welfare Services under the transition regulations. When joining the archive, public service providers and private service providers operating on behalf of the public must use a client information system with functionalities that comply with the obligation to join. These help service providers to meet the requirements of the Client Data Act and gain the most benefits of the archive. The functionalities enable, for example, the disclosure of social welfare client data within the sector and the storage of structured documents. Structured storage enables better data usability. Within the framework of access rights, private service providers may also store customer data in the wellbeing services county's register or retrieve data from it when providing social welfare services for the wellbeing services county.
In addition, in 2024, the Kanta Services will promote the introduction of summaries of key health data. Summary data enables better use of the Kanta services; for example, essential information can be easily found and treatment decisions can be based on up-to-date information.
Kela and the National Institute for Health and Welfare support and guide health care and social welfare services organisations in the deployment of the Kanta Services, for example, by organising deployment support and training events and by producing online schools for the use of professionals.
Kantaa kehitetään yhteistyössä
The Kanta Services are a national digital service entity for social welfare and health care, and they are also linked to international information systems. The Kanta Services will expand and become more versatile as citizens’ needs change and new laws enter into force. The Kanta Services are developed in collaboration with health care and social welfare services organisations and information system providers. The development of the Kanta Services is overseen and funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.