Helsinki’s hospital district has Finland’s lowest health care costs

The Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District HUS treats patients more cost efficiently than other hospital districts in Finland, according to 2010 statistics compiled by Statistics Finland and published by Local Finland, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.

The health care costs in the HUS municipalities were € 1,474 per capita. The costs in other hospital districts were markedly higher, ranging from €1,560 in Kanta-Häme, the next district north of HUS, to €2,070 in Eastern Savo in eastern Finland.

About 60 percent of all health care expenditures go to specialized care, and the remaining 40 percent to basic health care. When the costs of specialized care are compared in the five university hospital districts of Finland, HUS shows the lowest costs. The specialized health care costs were €913 per capita in HUS, and ranged from €966 to €1,080 in the other university hospital districts.

“These numbers prove that we have been able save money for our member municipalities,” says HUS CEO Aki Lindén. “I consider this development very positive.”