How are Finnish healthcare providers meeting the challenge of becoming much more joined up, faster than ever? We spoke to Laura Niiniviita and Laura Aho to go a bit deeper.
The Finnish healthcare landscape is undergoing unprecedented change. What’s driving this evolution?
“We’re seeing a complete restructuring of how healthcare is delivered,” explains Laura Aho, Account Executive at LOGEX. “The responsibility for care previously delivered across 300 independent municipalities is being transferred into 23 wellbeing services counties. This creates an urgent need for consolidated financial oversight and control within each county.”
The scale of this reorganisation is remarkable. In one example, the healthcare services across Pirkanmaa’s 23 separate municipalities – collectively serving over 500,000 people – have all had to be consolidated at pace.
How complex are these organisational mergers?
“What’s particularly challenging is that each municipality formerly had its own way of coding and tracking costs,” says Laura
Niiniviita, Solution Manager at LOGEX.
“It’s not just about combining different systems – we’re harmonising different languages of data, different processes, and different organisational cultures into one coherent approach.”
How are organisations managing to adapt so quickly?
“The pace of change has been extraordinary!” says Laura Niiniviita.
“In Pirkanmaa – the county we mentioned earlier – LOGEX has unifyied data from 23 different organisations, systems and processes into a single cohesive view healthcare cost system for the newly formed county. The initial implementation was complete in just 6-9 months and this is pretty typical now in similar work we’ve done across 5 counties.” “Success depends heavily on having the right people involved,” Niiniviita emphasises. “When customers have capable teams who understand both the technology and healthcare context, we can progress incredibly fast. A typical project involves just 6-10 LOGEX specialists working closely with the customer team to deliver these complex transitions.”
The team also emphasises the importance of ongoing education and support.
“As organisations wrestle with staff turnover and responsibilities are shifting often, we regularly conduct training sessions to ensure teams can maximise the value of their cost data,” explains Niiniviita. “When we discover effective practices in one region, we make sure to share these insights across all our customers.”
What early benefits are organisations seeing?
“The immediate impact is visibility,” says Niiniviita. “Organisations are becoming more cost-aware out of necessity. Unlike before, they can’t simply request more funding when budgets run over. They need to understand their cost structures and make data-driven decisions.”
“Also, many organisations are already moving beyond basic cost visibility. Helsinki University Hospital is combining cost data with patient information to analyse treatment pathways and identify opportunities for more efficient care delivery. Others are using the insights to better understand population health needs and optimise service delivery by diverting resources to where they’re most needed.”
What advice do you have for healthcare leaders navigating this reform?
“First, get control of your basic service and cost data,” Niiniviita emphasises. “You need to understand what services you’re providing and their true costs. This is fundamental to responsible management of taxpayer resources.”
Laura Aho adds: “But don‘t wait for perfect data – it doesn’t exist. Start now with what you have then iterate and improve month on month. The future is in combining different data sources – cost, patient, and population data – to drive better planning and resource allocation. With better digital services, smarter resources – both human and AI – and partners like LOGEX who know the landscape in depth, genuine transformation really is possible.”
