Finland’s healthcare is considered one of the best in the world, along with its Nordic neighbors Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
The advanced health system is distributed in three levels managed and financed by local municipalities.
The primary level consists of district health centers employing general practitioners and nurses. They provide basic medical services, such as examinations and screening for infectious diseases, health counseling, dental work, and maternal and child care.
District hospitals offer secondary medical care. If a health problem cannot be adequately treated at a local center, patients are sent to district hospitals where services with some degree of specialization are available.
The tertiary level of healthcare in Finland is made up of university teaching hospitals. These hospitals provide highly specialized care in particular areas such as orthopedics, epilepsy, rheumatism, or plastic surgery. Located in Finland’s major cities, these hospitals are the learning ground for the country’s doctors. In addition to having the most advanced medical facilities in the country, Finland’s healthcare system has a centralized data source for all patient information that can be accessed by computer.
Along with this, the private sector, although small, contributes 4% of medical care to hospitalized patients. The main fields practiced by private hospitals are dentistry, physiology and occupational health services. Speaking of which, employees receive occupational health services from their employers as required by law. Schools are also required to provide the same to their students and staff.
Health services in Finland are available to everyone, regardless of income. Due to the Primary Health Care Act of 1972, public health services are paid for with tax revenue. Municipal financial resources (plus subsidies from the national government) cover two-thirds of all medical expenses and the rest is borne by the national insurance system. This insurance could be nationally sponsored, funded by the patient’s employer, or by the patient themselves.
Another amazing aspect of Finnish healthcare is the Patient Injury Law. Protects patients’ rights to compensation when an unforeseen injury occurs due to medical treatment. It also protects physicians from legal action, thus preventing the development of defensive medical practices. The Finnish Law on the Status and Rights of a Patient is the first law of its kind in Europe that was passed to guarantee the patient’s right to information, informed consent for treatment, access to necessary medical documents and the autonomy. The Patient Injury Act also dictates the time frame in which a patient is allowed to access important medical care. However, these are only guidelines from medical experts and doctors are free to decide how to treat their patients.
The consequences of the exceptional quality of Finnish healthcare can be seen through the health of its citizens.
The infant mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world. Life expectancy for women is 81 years and for men 73 years.
Death from cardiovascular disease has decreased as a result of effective health and nutrition education in recent decades. Smoking and drug abuse have also decreased significantly. Communicable diseases are no longer a problem as immunization programs have reduced the frequency of measles, mumps and German measles. HIV infections have also been reduced.
