It would be an understatement to say Finland is proud of its accomplishments in health and well-being technological innovations and solutions.. But it wants to do more to improve the health of its citizens and at the same time further develop and strengthen its health innovation and business ecosystem. Our story describes a massive national initiative, but city leaders and officials working in healthcare may find some ideas they can use for collaborating on healthcare advances. — Doug Peeples
Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, and Council Lead Partner IBM are working together to transform Finland's healthcare landscape, from how it cares for patients to how its health care system is managed and controlled.
Key to the partnership is IBM's Watson cognitive computing. The company will build a Watson Health Center of Excellence in the country, the first Nordic Healthcare Competence Center and what is said to be the first National Imaging Center of Excellence outside the U.S.
Finland's healthcare system already includes full electronic health records, nationwide access to healthcare and a close working relationship between public and private sectors in health and well-being. And Tekes expects it and Finnish companies will make massive investments in artificial intelligence for well-being and healthcare over the next five years. It also expects the partnership with IBM to accelerate the development of new start-up companies and bring digitalization to all of the country's healthcare businesses.
The partnership calls for Watson Health data scientists, engineers, researchers and designers to work with Finnish doctors and researchers to create data-driven health care applications and solutions. One Finnish university wants to use health and well-being data to build applications on the Watson Health Cloud that will provide improved, personalized healthcare for its citizens. The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa will work with Watson Health to use cognitive computing to help in early identification of infections in prematurely born babies and to improve imaging for cerebral hemorrhage patients.
Deborah DiSanzo, general manager for IBM Watson Health, said Finland was chosen as a destination for its Watson Health capabilities because of its intent to restructure and digitize its healthcare system, its tech-savvy citizens and a social environment attuned to health. "The Tekes-IBM Watson Health partnership makes Finland a forerunner in health globally with Finnish citizens at the center as the ultimate beneficiaries," DiSanzo said.
For more on healthcare...
The Health and Human Services chapter of the Smart Cities Readiness Guide describes how advances in information and communications technologies will transform the health care industry and improve citizens' lives. The chapter also features case studies of how other cities have built smarter, more efficient healthcare systems, guidance for healthcare planning strategies and other resources.
Doug Peeples is a Portland, Oregon-based writer specializing in technology and energy. Follow @smartccouncil on Twitter.