18 February 2021
The Lifecare system brings together social care customer processes and the provision of uniformed services.
To support the multi-organizational model of social care, a common social welfare customer information system has been implemented in the Finnish county of South Ostrobothnia. It enables unified customer processes and work practices across social services. Except for the city of Seinäjoki, the entire region of South Ostrobothnia is now connected with the new system.
The plan to unify provincial social care information systems was started in connection with the previous regional government and social welfare and health care reform preparation project. The integrated system that is now implemented also has the capacity to support future social welfare and health care reform requirements.
“A unified solution enhances the efficiency of social care operations, enables better utilization of information and thus supports the provision of smooth services throughout the region. We are very pleased that the benefits of the regional system have been seen in South Ostrobothnia,” says Ari Pätsi, Chief Information Officer, South Ostrobothnia Hospital District.
Although all the social welfare organizations in South Ostrobothnia use the same system, they remain independent. This means that the customer information contained in the system is organization specific. While the South Ostrobothnia Hospital District provides an information system for the municipalities to use, social services are still provided by the municipality.
The integrated social welfare customer system has been designed with the common guidance information. Additionally, it also has uniform operating models, for recording and other tasks for a consistent management of information that enables better services.
As part of the customer information system project, the social services in South Ostrobothnia also connected to the national Kanta Services via a common system. At this point, joining means storing customer information only for the organization’s own use. Later the service will be expanded so that customers can view their personal social welfare information via a secure connection in the same way they can view healthcare information in the MyKanta service.
“The South Ostrobothnia Hospital District and associated municipalities have set a standard in implementing the provincial social welfare system. It has been an exciting journey developing a new type of solution that enables the development of social care services,” says Carita Hirvonen, Director, Social Services, TietoEVRY.