What is being studied?
In this trial, we study the effects of Digital Nurse Reception in the wellbeing services county of Ostrobothnia. Our main research question is whether digital reception reduces the demand for health services in health stations. In addition to this, we aim to investigate the economic efficiency of digital appointments and their impact on patients' health.
Why is this being studied?
The Finnish healthcare system is rapidly digitalizing. One visible part of this development for residents of wellbeing services counties are digital clinics, which allow quick access to healthcare professionals. Despite the rapid spread of digital consultations, it remains unclear whether the introduction of digital clinics reduces pressure on health centers, or whether digital clinic encounters mainly represent new treatment events that would not have occurred without the availability of digital services. Digital consultations are still in a developmental phase. Through this study, we aim to identify practices that improve the functioning of digital clinics and the benefits patients receive from digital services.
How is the study being conducted?
The most reliable way to study the effectiveness (cause-and-effect relationships) of healthcare interventions and services is to compare randomly assigned treatment and control groups. In this study, we have created treatment and control groups from the population of Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county. The groups are otherwise similar, but only individuals in the treatment group will have access to digital consultations starting April 15, 2025, during a nine-month pilot. The treatment and control groups were formed randomly at the address level (based on the residential address identifier in the population information system), so that all individuals living at the same address belong either to the treatment or the control group.
The population of Ostrobothnia (excluding Kristiinankaupunki) was drawn from the population information system on March 14, 2025, based on place of residence, and those with a permanent address were included. Institutionalized residents were excluded from the pilot population: specifically, persons living at addresses with at least three residents over 80 years old or at least five residents over 60 years old were excluded.
During the digital clinic pilot, use or non-use of the digital consultation service among those in the treatment group is voluntary. Individuals in the treatment group have the option, but not the obligation, to use digital consultations during the pilot.
What data will be used in the study?
All data used in the study is based on routine entries made by healthcare professionals during consultations. These entries are transferred from the regional patient information system to national healthcare registers (including the Care Register for Health Care and the Prescription Centre within the Kanta Services). The study does not require any action from those in the treatment group. Individuals in the treatment group will be informed about the availability of digital consultations by letter. The wellbeing services county will also provide general public information about the study through publicly available announcements. The study’s data protection notice is available here: https://sotedatalab.fi/tutkimus/.
Who is conducting the study?
The study is carried out by a research consortium (SoteDataLab) funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (STM). The consortium includes researchers from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the University of Turku, and Aalto University. The consortium is led by Professor Mika Kortelainen. The responsible director of the study on the Ostrobothnia digital health consultation pilot is Lauri Sääksvuori. The study has been granted a research permit by the Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county as well as a favorable statement from THL’s research ethics committee. The study has also received both a data permit from THL and a data use permit from Statistics Finland.
Further information about the study:
Lauri Sääksvuori (THL), lauri.saaksvuori@thl.fi
What is Kortelainen (UTU, THL), mikä.kortelainen@utu.fi
Suvi Einola (Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county, Director of Strategy and Development), suvi.einola@ovph.fi
Scientific pre-registration of research (in English):
Announcements on the Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county website:
Digital health consultation pilot and study – Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county