Partners want clear customer communication on reimbursement criteria for treatment abroad

Seeking treatment abroad refers to travelling abroad for the express purpose of receiving medical treatment. Instances such as sudden illnesses or accidents during a holiday trip do not constitute seeking treatment. Customers can seek treatment abroad either independently without a prior authorisation or apply for a prior authorisation from Kela.

As part of customer understanding work, we surveyed the views of the partners of the Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare on customers seeking treatment abroad, their needs and the communication channels needed. We sent the survey in February 2024 to all wellbeing services counties and to SOSTE’s network of patient and public health organisations (Potilas- ja kansanterveysjärjestöjen verkosto). The survey was answered by 46 Finnish-language and five Swedish-language partners, most of whom worked in the healthcare sector in a wellbeing services county. The survey was used to identify, for example, the types of contacts the partners receive about seeking treatment abroad, the needs and reasons of customers seeking treatment abroad and the best communication channels to reach these customers

In their responses, the partners indicated that customers seek treatment abroad mainly due to long waiting lists in Finland or because the desired treatment is not available in Finland. Another reason may be dissatisfaction with Finnish treatment practices or the perception that treatment abroad is of higher quality. Studies related to rarer diseases were also mentioned in the responses.

Partners receive relatively few enquiries about seeking treatment abroad

Based on the survey responses, the partners are aware of the possibility of seeking treatment abroad but are not particularly familiar with the subject. They receive relatively few enquiries about seeking treatment abroad and therefore have limited knowledge of the subject. They find it difficult to maintain their own knowledge. Many of the respondents would like guidance and clear instructions so that they can better guide customers. As there are few enquiries about seeking treatment abroad per expert, only certain people in the organisation tend to have knowledge of the subject.

Customers usually ask partners about how and where to seek treatment and how much treatment abroad costs. Although customers ask these questions, partners rarely feel able to give precise answers. The complexity of information and the individual situation of each patient are perceived as a challenge in providing advice to customers.

The partners’ experience is that the main challenges for customers are related to choosing a treatment place and finding out about the process of seeking treatment and the reimbursement criteria. In addition, some customers find it difficult to communicate in a foreign language.

Clear instructions and information on reimbursement conditions for customers

The survey results show that customers are most in need of information about reimbursements for treatment abroad and claiming for them as well as about the treatment costs and process as a whole. The partners would like customer communication to emphasise the reimbursement criteria for treatment abroad, and particularly the fact that the treatment must be medically necessary. Their view is that simplifying matters, giving concrete examples and compiling information in one place could help in sharing information.

We also asked our partners for their experiences and views on where people seeking treatment abroad search for information and how we should communicate to reach them. According to our partners, customers generally obtain information from people close to them, from healthcare and from websites. These information sources were also present in our previous results. In addition, support and information provided by peers was mentioned as an important source of information, for example for those seeking infertility treatment.

According to our partners, the best communication channels for customers are websites, printed brochures, social media and magazines. When guiding customers, our partners most often direct them to the Kela or EU-healthcare.fi websites for more information.

What next?

We will utilise the collected results to, for example, develop the content of the EU-healthcare.fi website. We will provide more information on this work in the next part of this series.