The health kiosk offers low-threshold healthcare services by nurses in a customer-oriented way in a new kind of environment where people normally go about their daily errands. The two-year healthcare pilot and research project involves local authorities, the University of Tampere and Sitra’s Municipal Programme.
Finland’s first health kiosk was opened in June 2009 in the Elo shopping centre in Ylöjärvi and the second in March 2010 in the Trio shopping centre in Lahti. The health kiosk opened in Lahti, the first in a major city, has been able to benefit from the positive experiences gained at Ylöjärvi. The health kiosks are run by the cities in close cooperation with health centres.
Services to all without an appointment
The health kiosks provide a wide variety of services by professional healthcare staff, in a reliable, easy and rapid manner. For example, customers can drop in and have their blood pressure and blood sugar measured, or get vaccinations. Nurses can perform minor procedures, make referrals and give advice, all without an appointment and, as a general rule, free of charge.
The impact of the health kiosks on the healthcare services of the cities will be studied through an evaluation carried out by the University of Tampere to identify best practices that can be used in other municipalities. The results provided by the evaluation will be compared against, for example, current public healthcare services and operations and the personnel’s job satisfaction.
A new way of providing health services
The aim of the health kiosk project is to identify efficient and cost-effective models that improve healthcare services and increase job satisfaction and which contribute to the structural reform of primary health care. In the Ylöjärvi and Lahti health kiosk project, the role of the Municipal Programme is to promote and co-finance the service concept, as well as disseminated best practices. The model for the health kiosks has come from popular Retail Clinic concept in the United States.
For further information, please contact:1.5.2009;31.12.2013;Municipal
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