Information sharing, cooperation and development: New committee of online service EU-healthcare.fi convened

EU-healthcare.fi, the online service of the Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare, is provided in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The operations of the contact point take place within Kela, and the contact point develops its services and communications in cooperation with its partners.

The joint work with cooperation partners became concrete when the new committee for the online service EU-healthcare.fi convened on 17 April 2024 at Kela’s main premises in Helsinki and through remote connections.

The tasks of the new committee are based on legislation, more specifically on the legislation concerning cross-border healthcare that entered into force in May 2023. In accordance with the legislation, it is the task of the committee to plan the development of the online service’s contents and functionalities while ensuring that the information is consistent and customer-oriented.

The contact point also sees the committee as valuable for stakeholder work and cooperation: those working on the same topic in the committee get to know each other, share good practices and benefit from each other’s expertise.

Sharing knowledge and skills

The purpose of the new committee is to develop the online service EU-healthcare.fi. The Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare invited representatives from Kela, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, HUS, Fimea, Kanta services, Hyvinvointiala Hali ry and Suomen sosiaali- ja terveys ry SOSTE to join the committee. The representatives are mainly communicators or experts in their own subject area.

”It is very rewarding for us to have a competent line-up like this to support the operations of our contact point”, says Marika Lahtivirta, head of the contact point.

The committee acts as a forum for cooperation and good practices.

Developing the services of the contact point in the long term

The services of the Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare are constantly developed for the customers. In 2022, the contact point clarified its strategy. This strategy work also led to a brand renewal, and the contact point developed its new brand throughout 2023. The same year, customer understanding work began with the aim of collecting information about different customer groups’ needs regarding the services of the contact point and cross-border healthcare.

In spring 2024, the contact point also started the more extensive technical development of the online service EU-Healthcare.fi.

“The work of the committee is a continuation of this development. In addition to being based on legislation, the committee’s tasks are a great platform for stakeholder work and information sharing,” Lahtivirta says.