Kanta-arkiston käyttökokemuksia työterveyshuollossa

The purpose of the eHealth and eSocial Strategy 2020 by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is to provide health care professionals with access to up-to-date patient data and information systems that support their work. Patient data are exchanged between organizations using the national Patient Data Repository (Kanta repository). The repository is increasingly used by the health care professionals as well as citizens. Presently, patient data of nearly every Finn are stored in it. The purpose of this study was to determine the use of the Kanta repository in Occupational Health Services using an electronic questionnaire in summer 2017. The survey targeted occupational health physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and psychologists. There was a total of 359 respondents. The results indicate that the Kanta repository is positively viewed but not used extensively. Respondents say that patient data retrieval is slow, the required data cannot be found with certainty and occasionally, there are some delays with saving patient data in the Kanta repository. Furthermore, the dates of patient visits showed in the Kanta repository do not always correspond to the actual dates of the visits. Occupational health professionals believe that other professionals utilize patient data generated in occupational health services. However, they feel that getting an overall status of a patient’s care is not easy with the Kanta repository. Documenting and archiving patient data without delay in the Kanta repository provides patients with the best care possible, as professionals can access the patient’s entire medical history if necessary. Although using the Kanta repository is still somewhat cumbersome and there are difficulties with finding patient data, it fulfils its purpose and supports the occupational health professionals’ work. In the future, the situation will hopefully improve. The national patient data management service of the Kanta repository will start providing professionals with the summaries of patient’s key structural health information.