Electronic healthcare services include for example the following services:
- Booking an appointment
- Viewing laboratory and imaging exam results
- Requests to renew prescriptions
- Filling in forms
- Chatbots
As a rule, you can log in to e-services by using strong identification, i.e. Finnish online banking codes, a mobile certificate or an electronic ID card. E-services do not involve simultaneous work input from healthcare professionals, such as appointments or discussion.
For example, Kanta services are an online service for all Finnish citizens. On My Kanta, you can see your health information and prescriptions and, for example, renew prescriptions. The patient portals Maisa (in use in the HUS area) and OmaTays (in use for Tays customers) are also channels for electronic service. In addition, automated chatbots are part of electronic services that also Health Village offers. They are automatic ‘robots’, and you do not need to log in to be able to use them. They can be used conveniently for things like determining the opening hours of an office and for finding information quickly.
Healthcare e-services are comparable to e-services such as the vero.fi service where you can view your own tax information and order a new tax card.
Like the names suggest, remote health care and self-care are about taking care of your health.
Remote health care means taking care of your health interactively with a healthcare professional, but remotely. In many cases, it is easier and more effortless to handle your matter remotely, without needing to physically travel to healthcare appointments, which also makes it easier to plan your day.
Remote health care can be carried out, for example, at a remote appointment with a professional or by using the Health Village digital care pathways. Remote health care is often used in tandem with traditional health care as a part of it, in which case the client may also have traditional appointments with healthcare professionals in addition to remote health care. Remote health care may also mean taking surveys and exercises independently for the professional to use when planning and monitoring your treatment.
Remote health care often makes it possible for the customer to promote their own health in a more active and flexible way and also assume more responsibility for their well-being. For example, the information contained in the digital care pathways can be accessed 24 hours a day, which makes it easy to return to it anywhere and at any time without having to contact a professional.
Self-care as part of e-health services means promoting your health by using the services, courses and instructions designed for independent care. Self-care can be carried out in your own time and without a patient care relationship with a healthcare professional.
For example, in the Health Village open self-care programs, anyone can systematically help themselves eat more healthily, stop smoking with the support of the program and take an online course to start physical activity. Symptom assessments and symptom navigators are also part of self-care services. If necessary, they will tell you to contact a professional for assessment.
E-health services provide up-to-date information on health and well-being and on diseases and their prevention. The information may be open to everyone, or reading it may require you to log in if it is part of the treatment of an illness. Information can also be provided in the form of pictures and videos.
For example, Health Village, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Terveyskirjasto health library maintained by Duodecim offer citizens diverse open information. As all these services provide information produced by professionals and are based on scientific research results, the information you receive is completely reliable. In addition, it is accessible from anywhere and anytime via the Internet, so the information is always available to you.