Review of Kanta year 2020 - importance of digital services highlighted
The number of Kanta Services users continued to grow in its 10th anniversary year. The importance of electronically provided services was highlighted with the emergence of the coronavirus.
Kanta provides digital services for social and healthcare service operators and citizens. Both public and private health services record patient data in Kanta. In 2020, the Patient Data Repository was used by 12,000 healthcare operators.
Social welfare information also became more extensively part of Kanta. By December 2020, more than half of the public actors in the field had joined the client data archive for social welfare services.
Use of My Kanta Pages was brisk
My Kanta Pages is the citizens' window to their own health information. In 2020, the service turned ten years old. It had a total of 2.7 million visitors during the year – almost 15% more than in 2019. In October 2020, My Kanta Pages set its all-time monthly record: 982,000 visitors. In 2020, there were 29.4 million visits in all to My Kanta Pages. The number increased by 40% compared to the previous year.
The volume of visitors and visits to My Kanta Pages was increased by people checking their coronavirus test results. At their best, digital services have eased the burden on the healthcare services during the pandemic.
Cross-border prescription scheme extended
Finnish prescriptions are now issued almost entirely electronically. During 2020, 26.4 million electronic prescriptions were issued, and more than 3.1 million renewal requests were sent from My Kanta Pages.
The operation of the cross-border prescription scheme was also extended in this exceptional year. Finnish electronic prescriptions can now be used to purchase medicines in Estonia, Croatia and Portugal. In Finland, medicines could first be bought with Estonian prescriptions, and in autumn 2020, the use of foreign electronic prescriptions in Finland extended also to Croatian and Portuguese prescriptions.
Changes in acting on behalf of a minor
Since October 2020, the first parents or guardians have also been able to view the data of children over 10 in My Kanta Pages. Wider functions on behalf of minors over the age of 10 will be possible as healthcare organisations modify their systems.
A new section for young people was published in Kanta.fi, providing facts about My Kanta Pages and explaining the change in acting on behalf of minors in teenagers' own language. In 2020, there were about 53,000 under-aged users of My Kanta Pages – 63% more than in 2019.
National responsibilities redefined
The Kanta Services are developed in co-operation between Kela, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (STM). The division of responsibilities in the Kanta Services was updated in 2020. A new operating model was introduced whereby responsibility was transferred to Kela for functions like coordinating Kanta development projects, supporting deployments, and organising training.
Kanta.fi is a respected online brand
Kanta.fi is the most important medium for the Kanta Services. In 2020, the online service ranked 2nd in the Taloustutkimus online brand survey – higher than brands like Google and the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle. The ranking improved by one from 2019. During 2020, Kanta.fi had 31.4 million visits.
Further information
- Customer service for citizens: asiakaspalvelu@kanta.fi
- Further information for professionals: kanta@kanta.fi