Terveystiedon

Terveystiedon, in Finnish, refers to information about a person’s health and to health data managed within health care systems. It encompasses data created or collected during medical encounters, diagnoses, treatments, laboratory tests, imaging, prescriptions, immunizations, and care plans, as well as information from public health records and patient‑reported data. Terveystiedon also includes metadata about how and when the data were produced and by whom.

In health care, tervetiedon is used to support clinical decision making, coordinate care among different providers, monitor population health, and empower patients to access and manage their own information. The data may reside in electronic health records, laboratory information systems, imaging archives, and national or regional databases. In Finland, a national health information infrastructure called Kanta Services provides electronic health records, electronic prescriptions, and a national patient portal called Omakanta, which allows individuals to view their terveystiedon.

Privacy and data protection are central to handling healthy information. Health data are highly sensitive and subject to strict regulations, including general data protection rules and national health data provisions. Processing typically requires a lawful basis, and individuals have rights to access, correct, and request restricted processing under certain conditions. Data may be shared among authorized health care providers and, for research or public health purposes, may be anonymized or used with informed consent.

Challenges in managing terveystiedon include ensuring data quality, security, and interoperability between different systems, as well as balancing patient access with privacy and organizational safeguards.