The role of private medical centers and physicians has increased in Finnish occupational care since early 2000s

Introduction The role of optional medical care within Finnish occupational health care has lately been discussed because of its presumed disruptive effect on the primary healthcare system. We studied some features of Finnish occupational care over the past two decades.

Methods We employed the yearly compensation statistics of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) from 2002 to 2022 to describe changes in producer organizations and the role of physicians in service production.

Results The share of workers receiving their services from private medical centers increased from 32 % to almost 90 % during the follow-up period. At the same time, the share of physicians in service production increased. The number of appointments started to decrease after 2010, turning to a slight increase in 2022. The cost increase leveled off after 2010, especially compared to the number of people and value for money.

Conclusions The present dominating role of physicians is not an inherent feature of occupational health care. Rather, it has increased as the share of private medical centers in service provision has grown. In the future, multidisciplinarity in healthcare warrants further development. Also, investigation into how such an approach could better support work ability is needed.

Heidi Wasastjerna, Arto Luoma, Markku Seuri, Minna Majuri