In early 2022, it was still difficult to utilize data and information in the outpatient care of the City of Espoo. In cooperation with Medielli Oy, Fluentia's experts built a data management entity that utilizes Microsoft’s services, allowing the operational status to be seen at a glance.
A management development project in the outpatient care of the City of Espoo revealed that there was a need for more efficient data management and especially data visualisation for the operational management teams of the health centres. Different health centres had different recording and reporting methods, and in order to have access to data, employees had to request reports separately or find out the status data from different systems themselves.
They wanted to eliminate unnecessary time wastage. The data should quickly show whether the situation in the health centres is in line with the objectives. Are there any anomalies in operations to which the management teams should react?
Fluentia's experts were called in to help build a new data management system that would provide real-time information on the level of activity in outpatient care, based on a set of indicators.
- Our starting point was a layered management model. We needed to make information visible in different ways to different groups: senior management, local management and unit management teams," says Tomi, Fluentia's expert on the project.
With Fluentia's help, a Microsoft Power Automate based solution was built to automate data transfer in Espoo's outpatient care. It was partnered with Microsoft Power BI dashboard for data visualization and management.
One of the challenges of the project was the different forms of data.
- Some of the data was found automatically in the systems, but some was handwritten on paper. Data was available at different levels - daily, weekly or monthly. The dates could also be in different formats," says Pauliina, who was responsible for data consolidation at Fluentia.
Once the data had been consolidated, it was used to build a view called ASH Dashboard. It is now used at Espoo's health centers to measure mainly six things: access to service or care, continuity of care, effectiveness, customer experience, employee experience and productivity.
The indicators have been selected to support the current needs of Espoo outpatient care. If and when the needs change in the future, modifications can be made to the set of indicators and the dashboard can be developed. The current system will thus also be able to adapt to future needs.
- The cooperation with Fluentia was very agile and flexible. We have received support from Fluentia for big and small issues, and they have been very understanding in terms of schedule and personnel changes. It has been easy to deal with them, as the contact person at Fluentia has remained the same throughout," says Jonna Taskinen, City of Espoo Project Manager.
- A big thank you also for the fact that Fluentia always spoke plain language with us. Things were presented to us in a way that the whole team understood.
The cooperation is also praised by Fluentia. The project was clearly important to the City of Espoo, and Fluentia wanted to find the best metrics and solutions for the complex needs of outpatient care.
- We always strive to improve our customers' data management and thereby save on their costs," says the Fluentia team.
