All regions sign up for Sote freedom of choice

All the 18 regions of the country have applied for the freedom of choice pilot projects under the health and social services reform (Sote reform), reported the local media.

The freedom of choice projects are set to be piloted in some parts of the country, if parliament approves the legislation concerned in summer.

The pilot projects are aimed to test how the freedom of choice in selecting health services works in practice.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will select the pilot project areas and decide the funding by the end of April.

The government has allocated 100 million euros for implementing the pilot projects for 2018-2021, while the total amount applied for is about 100 million euros, too.

The pilot projects will experiment on the choice of health and social service centres, coordination of services, customer vouchers, and personal budgets, among other things. It will also be possible to select the Omakanta service.

“It is possible to utilise the information from the pilots when services will be developed and freedom of choice gradually extends throughout the country,” said Head of Project Hanna Varis. The citizens will be informed on the possibilities of freedom of choice.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the freedom of choice means clients will have the right to choose themselves from where to get health and social services.