Service Structure and Network Planning

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The health and social services sector faces constant demands for improved cost-efficiency. A sustainable regional service structure must meet both the health needs of the region as well as its financial standing.

Many regions historically suffer from an overly heavy service structure, which causes unnecessary costs. Amendment of the service structure requires systematic planning and goal-oriented implementation.

Optimization of the service network involves balancing between the degree of specialization, the availability and the range of services. At best, regional cooperation and operational integration can help to achieve an improved range and a higher degree of specialization at a reasonable cost. Regional cooperation also lowers the costs per unit in services which provide economies of scale.

NHG possesses solid experience in the assessment and prediction of service needs. With regional cooperation we can build a cost-effective service structure which guarantees value-based care throughout the region.

Contact:

Fredrik Herse

Senior Manager
fredrik.herse@nhg.fi

The aim of the project was to obtain an opinion from an external expert on the vision of the city’s structure of services for the elderly and the service network itself, the development needs of current approaches and new service models and approaches to improve productivity and efficacy.

The project involved interviews with key individuals in services for the elderly, the collection and analysis of data sets and the organization of workshops with key individuals and the management of services for the elderly.

As a result of the project, a strategy for services for the elderly for the years 2015–2025 was created, including a vision for the future service structure and network, including further recommendations for the development of current approaches. The strategy involved a view of future service models and approaches that contribute to boosting productivity and efficacy.

The aim of the commission was to analyse the present condition of the care chains and costs of young, 13–22-year-old substance abuse and mental health patients from Espoo. Espoo wished to streamline the service chains, requiring a thorough analysis of the present state of the services.

The project was carried out in cooperation with experts from the City of Espoo and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. It consisted of compiling data on customers’ care chains and service use as well as defining customer groups, care chains, costs and segments. Finally, the data was converted into solution models in workshops.

Care chains were analysed from the perspective of multiple different patient groups with a particular focus on the start of care and the subsequent service contacts. The analysis also involved multiple care chain analyses for example one’s for customers. Costs were examined customer- and segment-specifically as well as individually in terms of the most expensive customers.