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The aim of the new projects is to expand the use of AI in social and health care services. The projects have different priorities: the goal is to extend AI-assisted recording not only to doctors, but also to other professionals who record appointments and client meetings in Western Uusimaa, and to put this wellbeing services county-wide solution out to tender. In Kanta-Häme, AI will be used to compile background and risk data on the client and to predict changes in functional capacity.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health granted the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County 550,000 euros in funding (in Finnish and in Swedish) to develop AI-assisted registration. The ministry granted 480,000 euros in funding for Kanta-Häme Wellbeing Services County (in Finnish) for AI-based customer background and risk data collection and capacity prediction.
“I am convinced that AI-assisted recording will significantly streamline the everyday work of social and healthcare professionals in the future. The significant AI funding for our wellbeing county reinforces the belief that we are on the right track, and further accelerates the good development work we have already started,” says Johan Sanmark, Director of Research, Development and Innovation at the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County.
“We are developing AI-based tools for compiling customer background and risk data to facilitate the work of social and healthcare professionals. As we develop modern ways of working on the front line, we believe this will have an impact on staff job satisfaction and will be reflected in a smoother experience for residents in the region,” says Teemu Okasanen, Manager of Information Management in Kanta-Häme.
Sitra’s projects preceding these major projects, aimed to test the use of AI in health services, in particular to achieve cost savings. This is a crucial issue, especially for patient records, where social and health care staff spend up to 3 hours and 15 minutes a day (in Finnish).
“It is great that the results of the previous projects, partly funded by Sitra, encourage a significant further investment. AI will speed up a doctor’s work and help anticipate risky situations. Both are important, for example, for the cost development of social and health care. The lessons learned should be put to good use,” says Petri Lehto, Leading Expert, summing up the work done on Sitra’s projects.
Read more in the news about the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County (in Finnish, in Swedish 9.1.1025) and the news about the Kanta-Häme Wellbeing Services County (in Finnish 22 Jan. 2025).
Sitra works with partners to develop and test solutions to renew Finland. We strengthen society’s capacity to find new solutions and bring together the players to make change possible. The aim is to help partners succeed in their reform work and thus serve Finnish society.
29 January 2025 updated the article and added information on the Kanta-Häme Wellbeing Services County.
