Public hopes that service vouchers will improve preventive healthcare and shorten waiting times
Lehtikuva / Kimmo Mäntylä People hope that service vouchers could be used to shorten waiting times in social services like dental healthcare.Service vouchers should be used to shorten waiting times and enhance preventive services in healthcare. This conclusion is based on data collected during the first five weeks of a public online discussion in Finland.
The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra opened a public online discussion on service vouchers on 1 September 2009.
The evaluations submitted by respondents indicate that people are also worried about frailty and debility among older people. They hope that service vouchers could be used for cultural and recreational services, as well as other services that support mental and physical agility, and create opportunities for older people to spend time together and engage in various activities.
Freedom of choice is also regarded as important, i.e. the freedom to choose the service provider.- Judging from the responses, the service voucher could mark a new type of revival for non-governmental organizations in terms of producing these services, says Development Director Tuomo Melin, head of the service voucher project at Sitra.
Members of the public can suggest new uses for service vouchers and evaluate ideas at www.sitra.fi/palveluseteli. The discussion also continues in the social media, in such communities as Facebook and Twitter. During the first five weeks, the service voucher project attracted more than 1,200 friends on Facebook. The project page offers an opportunity to follow the public discussion and provides information on new reports, documents and videos related to service vouchers.
The public online discussion is based on a platform created by Fountain Park, a Helsinki-based consulting company.
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