1. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 1 The role of information technology and its potential and limitations in improving quality monitoring Markku Lehto

2. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 2 Four actors Political decision makers Service providers, such as hospitals Doctors and other health care personnel Clients and their relatives

3. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 3 Political decision makers More rapid follow-up of quality indicators Health benefits in other sectors of society Assessment of the health care system Comparisons of hospitals and other providers Strict cost containment (prescription practices)

4. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 4 Service providers Continuity of care, quality of the whole care process Quality of different phases of care Open distribution of performance data on the Internet

5. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 5 Doctors Access to the client’s previous tests and treatment Access to evidence-based guidelines Malpractice warning system

6. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 6 Clients Call centre advice Tests conducted at home, results sent to the health centre Information from the Internet

7. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 7 Bumps on the road Software ignores the actual situation; a risk that doctors spend too much time with the computer instead of listening to the client Abundance of information Lack of interoperability

8. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 8 Electronic patient record system Standard national format Could be used by different actors Identification of client and doctor; data protection Nationwide electronic system