Kela
Kela is a public pension institution whose mission is to provide basic social security services to Finnish citizens. In our family, we make the most use of the health care and medical benefits provided by Kela. Kela reimburses part of the cost of medicines prescribed by a doctor, and if I use the services of a private doctor, I am reimbursed part of the doctor’s fee. The reimbursements for medical expenses provided by Kela are quite small compared to the fees for private medical services. If I fall ill, I get compensation for lost wages from Kela. When I leave the labour market, I receive a pension from Kela. If I am a student, I will receive a study grant and housing allowance from Kela.
Our grandparents, on the other hand, benefit a lot from Kela’s services. They already have several illnesses and medications, for which they also receive higher reimbursements. This is a good thing, as a large part of their pension would otherwise be spent on medical costs. For elderly people living in rural areas, access to care often also requires transport services, which are reimbursed by Kela. As public health services are not always sufficient to cover the need for care, Kela’s vouchers allow services to be provided by other providers. In recent years, Kela service points have been closed or centralised in large cities and digital services have been introduced. However, this makes it more difficult for senior citizens to access services, as they may not have the skills and equipment to use digital services. It is therefore often up to relatives to help their elderly family members to use Kela services.
I also have a European Health Insurance Card provided by Kela. It provides me with essential medical care if I fall ill while travelling or staying temporarily in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland, the UK or Northern Ireland. The card is valid in public health services and some private medical centres. Today’s world is very busy and stays abroad can be long, for example for teleworking. The European Health Insurance Card is a good additional cover to travel insurance. You feel safer going abroad knowing that if you have an accident or fall ill, you can seek local healthcare. Even if you have to pay for the treatment yourself, you can claim reimbursement from Kela or your insurance company afterwards. Nowadays, you can also get reimbursements back to your bank account more quickly by submitting your claim 24/7 online. Although the European Health Insurance Card is a comprehensive cover abroad, I always take out travel insurance to cover the cost of repatriation if necessary. Transporting patients abroad is very expensive and the state is not obliged to reimburse citizens.
OmaKanta
OmaKanta is a great national digital service run by Kela. From a healthcare worker’s point of view, Kanta program brought speed, ease and patient safety to work. For managing their own personal health matters, OmaKanta has brought, among other things, the possibility to monitor their own data in real time. Not all patient data is transferred immediately to OmaKanta, but quickly enough to ensure continuity of care. The majority of health service providers are already connected to Kanta program and coverage is increasing all the time. In the past, self-care information was sent slowly by letter, now it is sent quickly electronically. The use of OmaKanta has certainly increased self-care activity among the population as a whole, as the ability to manage and process one’s own medical records is more engaging in the care process.
Access to Kanta program requires electronic authentication. In my case, this is easily done using bank IDs and a mobile certificate, but this can cause problems for senior citizens. If you do not have access to online services, you can give your relative a power of attorney to act on your behalf. It should be remembered, however, that a proxy is only ever used with the patient’s permission and only for a limited period of time in relation to the matter at hand. Patient data protection must also be ensured when acting on behalf of another person, so that the patient’s data cannot be seen or heard by third parties and the authorised person does not share the data he or she has obtained with other persons. The use of OmaKanta is also easy and convenient via the mobile app, which makes it possible to book appointments and prescriptions from outside the home, even from abroad.
Keva
I logged on to Keva’s website to check how much pension I have accrued, but was told that my pension is being handled by another pension company. So I logged on to another pension company’s website, where I found the information I was looking for. To log in, you need to be identified electronically. If I had not been able to log in electronically, the company’s website provides a telephone number for customer service. Whether it is possible to ask for pension information over the phone, I did not research. After logging on to the pension company’s website, I was given information about the amount of my pension. If I were to retire at this point, my monthly income would drop by 40% from the current level. The calculator on the pension company’s website does not give the option of a retirement age of 63 years. My lowest possible retirement age is 65, in which case the pension I would earn would be 37% lower than my current salary. If I retire at 68, my pension would be 25% lower than my current salary. And if I continue to work until age 70 at my current salary level, my pension would be 16% less than my current earned income. So it’s worth staying healthy and doing a job that you can do and enjoy until you’re 70, so that I can maintain almost my current standard of living. Or play the lottery.
Digital transactions
I use Booking.com a lot. It’s easy to search and compare prices for trips and travel packages. You can define your own product criteria and choose the one that suits you best from the options you find. In addition, customers who use the app a lot are rewarded with bonus points, giving them additional benefits and discounts on the products they book. The products are clearly described and priced. I have always made successful purchases through this site. I find its operation and information reliable. I read reviews of items from other customers and, if necessary, ask the seller of the item directly for further information.
Päijät-Sote – app
The digital app for health services in my own welfare area is called Päijät-Sote. It’s a handy app when I want to get information about health services, contact a service provider, log in to OmaKanta, or do various health surveys. The app successfully integrates different service software, making it easy for patients to manage their own care path. The app is updated frequently, so the information is up-to-date. Any questions I ask through the app are answered in a timely manner. The app is reliable and secure. Using the app, I don’t have to queue up for health services over the phone or go to a point of contact on the spot. The app also allows me to send various documents and attachments related to my treatment.
Digitalisation and the digital divide
My grandmother lived to be almost 100 and experienced major societal and technological changes in her lifetime. Amazingly, even in her 90s and as an uneducated peasant, she was able to adopt a wide range of technological devices with ease. But much of the difficulty was caused by the reform of the Social Health and Social Services (Sote) in the last years of his life and the digitalisation of services that came with it. The majority of primary health care services in rural areas were cut back, with services either going electronic or being centralised in large urban centres. An elderly person who had been independent and self-sufficient until then suddenly needed the help of relatives for all their needs, because they did not have a car, a computer, a smartphone or bank details. Even in the last years of his life, he should have been able to use remote health services, a safety phone and smart devices, despite his cognitive deficits. Home-based services were so limited and infrequent that without the help of relatives, the elderly person would have lived a precarious and marginalised life. People living in remote areas are inevitably disadvantaged compared to those living in large urban areas. The underlying idea behind the reform of the social services was to provide all Finns with equitable and appropriate health services. In my opinion, this objective has not been achieved.
Digital skills test
I took the digital competence test, which showed an emphasis on the areas of security, information and communication. The least emphasis was on the production part. The test emphasised areas that are important for using digital applications related to my work and studies.
Reflections on digital citizenship
Digitalisation has brought a lot of flexibility, speed and choice to the way citizens do things. As service networks in rural areas shrink, digital services are the only option for many people. Older people have also become digitally literate, as guidance is available, for example, at adult education centres and through municipal services. Guidance has also helped older people to learn how to manage their banking and health affairs, for example, using a computer, but data protection and technical problems can be difficult to resolve. These issues often require the help of family members or professionals. People with special needs also often need external help to use digital services. If a person does not have the necessary equipment, they have to use public equipment, which is often subject to opening hours. Digital services work when people know how to use them and are able to do so. In many sectors, digitalisation has led to savings and reduced the need for human resources. Could the resources saved be used to invest in services for the digitally illiterate?
Here are the blogs I commented on:
DIGI CITIZEN
DIGI CITIZEN
DIGI CITIZEN