29.01.2024

Health Village service benefits estimated at hundreds of millions of euros

The financial effectiveness of the services provided by the nationally widely used Healthvillage.fi has been evaluated experts in health economics. Most of the total value of € 563 million is comprised of achieved health benefits, whose monetary value is around € 217. These savings are significant, especially considering that Finland has a population of only 5.5 million inhabitants

Promising development

The Health Village digital services are anticipated to enhance healthcare services for citizens and streamline the work of healthcare professionals. By using these services, healthcare professionals can save an extra 25 minutes per day for patient work, allowing for one additional appointment per professional per day. This is a promising development for both healthcare professionals and patients.

The evaluation was based on interviews, surveys, service usage statistics and health economic models. The impact of Health Village’s hubs* and the HealthVillagePRO service for professionals was assessed from the standpoint of healthcare professionals in their use of working time and from the standpoint of citizens in their use of health services, current health, quality of life, work absences and travel costs. The evaluation was commissioned by Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) and carried out by ESiOR Oy, a company specialising in health economics and effectiveness research.

Healthcare professionals use the contents of Health Village’s hubs to provide services such as advice, information, self-care guidance and patient counselling. *

Health Village services free up extra time for professionals

On average healthcare professionals who used both the hubs and HealthVillagePRO service save an extra 25.6 minutes on average. The average value of extra working time saved per professional user surveyed is €1 583 per year.

The impact of Health Village's hubs on citizens’ health and quality of life was examined through a survey. 69% of the respondents indicated that the use of hubs had improved their quality of life. This number was 56% for the respondents who acted on behalf of another person, indicating that the use of hubs had improved the quality of life of the person they were caring for. In both cases, there was a statistically significant correlation between the frequency of hub usage and the impact on the person’s quality of life. The value of citizen use was estimated at €1 171 per year, per respondent.

The value of Health Village over 500 million in Uusimaa region in southern Finland

The social value of Health Village’s hubs and the Health VillagePRO services is significant and will keep increasing as the number of users grows. Based on the service usage in 2023, the value of Health Village’s hubs and the TerveyskyläPRO service was estimated at € 563 million per year in Uusimaa region in southern Finland. Uusimaa region has about 3.6 million inhabitants. The calculation was based on 17 700 professional users and 470 000 citizen users.

Most of the total value of € 563 million is comprised of achieved health benefits, whose monetary value is around € 217 million. The value for reduced use of health services was estimated at €175 million and the value for avoided production losses at around € 138 million. The value for more efficient use of professional time is around € 33 million.

*) HealthVillage.fi contains 32 virtual hubs built around different themes. The hubs offer free information and support. Contents can be found in Finnish and Swedish. There are three hubs in English