Asset Publisher

Kanta Services in 2018 – Significant increase in the use of Kanta services

Notice Written on 31.1.2019 All notices

2018 was a year of growth for the Kanta services. Nearly all prescriptions were issued electronically and the number of users continued to increase. The number of disruptions decreased and new types of services called for by the customers were introduced.

The Kanta services have become an established part of the Finnish health care system. My Kanta Pages is an online service for citizens. You log in using your online banking ID, an electronic identity card or a mobile ID. In My Kanta Pages, you can view your own health records and your prescriptions recorded by health care professionals. You can also request renewals of your prescriptions via My Kanta Pages.

In 2018, there were nearly 17 million sign-ins to My Kanta Pages. A total of 2,796,618 individuals have used the service since it was first launched in 2010.

My Kanta Pages has been used by 1.9% of under 18-year-olds, 50.7% of 18–35-year-olds, 48.9% of 36–50-year-olds, 51.1% of 51–65-year-olds and 36.7% of over 65-year-olds.

In 2018, 2.2 million requests for renewals of prescriptions were made through My Kanta Pages.

28 million prescriptions – 64 million medicine dispensations

Nearly all prescriptions, a total of 28 million in 2018, were issued electronically. The number of prescriptions decreased slightly (32 million in 2017), because the period of validity of the prescriptions was extended to two years. A total of 64 million medicines were dispensed, down from 61 million in 2017. 

The Patient Data Repository enables centralised electronic archiving of patient records

The Patient Data Repository is a national health information system that enables centralised archiving of electronic patient records and long-term storage of the data. The Repository transmits data between healthcare service providers.

By the end of 2018, a total of 1.4 billion documents had been archived in the Patient Data Repository. They contained data on nearly 6 million* individuals.  Over 3 million persons have consented to their health records being released to health care professionals. By the end of 2018, only 93,700 persons had prohibited the release of their data. 

New Kanta services used by social services and healthcare professionals and citizens

During 2018, the first data on social welfare clients were included in the Kanta services. The Archive of Social Services Client Data was piloted in cooperation with the South Karelia Social and Health Care District (Eksote), the City of Vaasa, the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters and the City of Turku. The results of the pilot were positive.

In the My Kanta Personal Health Record, you can store information on your wellbeing using different applications. A wellbeing application may, for example, be an application in your mobile phone, an online service used via the browser on your computer or a measuring device such as a blood sugar monitor or an activity tracker. In the My Kanta Personal Health Record, your health and wellbeing data are all stored conveniently and securely in one place.

It is now possible to store data collected by your heart rate monitor, activity bracelet or your smart bathroom scale, in the digital health service ‘Terveyskylän Omapolku’, and also to view the data in Kela’s My Kanta Pages.

The Joint Municipal Authority for North Karelia Social and Health Services (Siun sote) was the first to start using the Archive of Imaging Data, which is part of the Kanta services. The nationwide archive is now also available to other healthcare organisations.

In 2018, archiving of old patient data was also introduced. Patient data that was recorded in electronic information systems before the introduction of the Patient Data Repository can be transferred into the Archive of Old Patient Data by the healthcare units. This transfer will also end the archiving obligation of the healthcare services even though the healthcare unit in question will continue to be the controller of the data.

Last year the Kanta services were also complemented by an Enquiry Service. It transfers doctor’s statements concerning a person’s driving ability to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency ‘Traficom’, provided that the customer has consented to this. Kela is in charge of the technical implementation of the service and its maintenance.

Disturbances and interruptions less frequent, reliability remained good

The overall accessibility of the service improved and the reliability of the system was on a good level. Disturbances and interruptions in the Kanta services declined compared to earlier years. Accessibility to the Patient Data Repository stood at 99.87% all year round. The corresponding figure for the Prescription Service was 99.98% and for the My Kanta Pages 99.78%.

All Kanta services are Class A certified in accordance with the legal requirements. Certification ensures appropriate processing of client and patient data and the implementation of data protection and information security.

Kanta services received a new look in summer 2018

The Kanta services were given a new logo and a new visual look. The kanta.fi website was also restructured and relaunched in line with the new look. The Kanta services enable the citizens and the social services and health professionals to share the same information.

*This figure also includes data on persons who have died after the Patient Data Repository was launched. It also includes data on foreign nationals living in Finland who have a Finnish personal identity code.


Additional information:
 

Kela, Kanta Services:
Pia Järvinen-Hiekkanen, Development Manager
pia.jarvinen-hiekkanen@kela.fi, tel. +358 (0)50 353 8011

Pirjo Ikävalko, Communications Specialist
pirjo.ikavalko@kela.fi, tel. +358 (0)40 687 9964