Enabler or suppressor? – Survey on the effects of the Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data on medical research
Background The Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data (Secondary Use Act) came into effect in Finland in May 2019. The purpose of our survey was to evaluate clinical researchers´ experiences with the implementation and effects of the act.
Methods The survey, directed to clinical researchers in Finland, was conducted on the Webropol platform. The respondents evaluated the effects and consequences of the Secondary Use Act, including scheduling, financing, and collaborating in research. Potential benefits, barriers and other positive and negative effects of this act were also assessed.
Results A total of 430 respondents completed the survey. Of these, 64.4% reported higher costs of research following implementation of the Secondary Use Act while 38.4–45.6% of respondents reported that the act had prevented starting new research projects due to application costs, demand for the use of remote access and mandatory costs associated with its use.
Conclusions According to our survey, the Secondary Use Act has had alarming effects and consequences in Finnish clinical research, reducing the number of research outputs, the quality of research, and the competitiveness of Finnish research internationally, especially in researcher-driven science. The consequences of the Secondary Use Act negatively impact Finnish patients, quality of care, and equality of care.
Aleksi Reito
Orthopaedic Surgeon, Associate Professor
Tampere University Hospital, Department of Musculoskeletal Diseases, and Tampere University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology
Enni Sanmark
Timo Tuovinen
Toni T. Seppälä
Ilari Kuitunen
Ville Ponkilainen
Elina Ekman
Joonas H. Kauppila