A Finnish City Cures Health-Care Inflation
Oulu has 70,000 residents using a digital system to manage their care
Houses in the Pikisaari neighborhood of Oulu, Finland.
Photographer: MyLoupe/UIG via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Located just 100 miles below the Arctic Circle, Oulu, Finland, was for years famous for only one thing: the Air Guitar World Championships each August. Now the city of 196,000 has a new distinction: It boasts one of the world’s most advanced e-health programs.
A digital platform introduced in 2008 lets patients make appointments, refill prescriptions, and exchange messages with doctors from their home computers. There’s even a device that diagnoses ear infections by measuring vibration of the tympanic membrane. Some 70,000 residents are already on the system, called Self Care.