Nordic Healthcare Group has played a key role in supporting Central Uusimaa with value-based care initiative.
The Wellbeing Services County of Central Uusimaa (Keusote) is a pioneer in developing and measuring value-based social and healthcare services.
“Even before the wellbeing services reform, we began exploring how to improve the outcomes and value of our services and how our operations could be as impactful, high-quality, and equitable as possible for our clients,” says Keusote’s Chief Medical Officer and Director of Research and Development, Pirjo Laitinen-Parkkonen.
Nearly ten years of continuous work have paid off: idea of value-based care is now embedded in Keusote’s strategy, guiding both decision making and everyday operations.
“We have followed a comprehensive, multi-phase plan. The concept of value-based care has been promoted for years across the organisation, among staff and political decision makers.”
”The concept of value-based care has been promoted for years among staff and political decision makers.”
Pirjo Laitinen-Parkkonen, Chief Medical Officer, Director of Research & Development, Central Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County
Awareness and understanding have been strengthened through pilot projects focusing on three key client groups: people with diabetes, clients with mental health and substance abuse needs and older people.
“The number of people with diabetes is growing rapidly in our area as well, so care needs to be increasingly cost-effective. There are fewer clients with severe mental health disorders, but the treatment costs and disease burden are very high.”
Lessons from the pilots benefit other services
The pilots will continue until the end of 2025, but diabetes care has already improved in several ways.
“For example, this autumn we introduced self-reporting for diabetes patients based on a wellbeing survey, which is a central part of their care. Through electronic forms, they report issues related to symptoms, functional ability and daily life. This information enables better treatment outcomes.”
According to Laitinen-Parkkonen, the lessons from the pilots can later be applied to other services as well.
“The model is suitable for treating all cardiovascular diseases and for clients with depression or anxiety, where improving outcomes is also essential.”
As part of the value-based care initiative, professionals gained access to dashboards that compile information on service effectiveness, such as treatment outcomes, the client’s perceived wellbeing, client group status and process flow. They make it possible to track how different actions affect clients’ health and wellbeing.
“The shared dashboards show, for example, how each unit’s work influences outcomes across the clinic and the wider area. They also support developing one’s own work, comparing units, identifying where resources are most needed and highlighting which service processes can still be streamlined,” says Laitinen-Parkkonen.
The Goal: Creating comparable data
Nordic Healthcare Group has been involved in the value-based care initiative from the very beginning, from planning to project management and from tendering and procurement to updating the information systems.
“This has been a major change and required a great deal of sparring. Now, in the final phase of the project, we are still involved in staff training as new operating models are being put into practice,” says Milla Peltonen, Senior Manager at NHG.
According to Laitinen-Parkkonen, NHG’s contribution has been essential.
“They have helped translate our ideas into practical solutions. Their work has supported both strategic planning and hands-on implementation.”
Keusote aims to be a value-based organisation by 2030 and is eager to share its experiences widely.
“Our goal is to produce data that is comparable across wellbeing services counties. Data is the driving force behind value-based care. When it grows, becomes more precise and is shared, it enables even more effective service provision.”
”Data is the driving force behind value-based care.”
Pirjo Laitinen-Parkkonen, Chief Medical Officer, Director of Research & Development, Central Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County
Project highlights
Challenge
There was a need in Central Uusimaa region (Keusote) to develop more value-based social and healthcare services and to produce comparable data for decision-making. For example the number of diabetes patients was rising, and mental health service costs were high.
Solution
Pilot projects were launched for three client groups, and dashboards as well as patient self-reporting were introduced. Nordic Healthcare Group supported the development of new operating models and systems.
Results
Value-based thinking is now part of Keusote’s strategy and everyday decision-making. Service quality and resource allocation have improved, and the lessons learned can be applied more broadly to other services.
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