Custodians to have better access to e-services on behalf of their minor children — My Kanta Pages’ ten-year age limit to be abolished 

At the moment, custodians can view data in the My Kanta Pages only on those children who are under the age of 10. In his decision, the Deputy Chancellor of Justice considered that the age limits concerning custodians’ right to act on behalf of their children in the My Kanta Pages do not meet the conditions set out in the Act on the Status and Rights of Patients.  

In future, custodians will be able to view data on their minor children in the My Kanta Pages without any age limit, unless minors who are capable of making their own decisions have forbidden the disclosure of their data. This new operating model will be deployed in stages.

Duty of healthcare professionals to always make a record of a minor’s decision-making capacity

 
Under the Act on the Status and Rights of Patients, minors can forbid the disclosure of data on their health to their custodians if healthcare professionals have assessed them to be sufficiently mature to make such decisions.  

In future, healthcare professionals must assess if minors are mature enough to decide on their own care and, if so, establish whether minors wish to allow their custodians to view their data every time they use healthcare services. This information must also be recorded in the patient data system every time minors use healthcare services.

Changes to patient data systems

Making it possible for custodians to act on behalf of all their children, irrespective of age, requires that changes be made to the patient data systems. This new operating model will be deployed in stages from the late 2020 onwards when the necessary changes to the patient data systems have been made throughout the country. 

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland will instruct the healthcare service providers and system providers on how to prepare the changes.

Need for legislative amendments to be assessed

It could be appropriate to set an age limit for the purpose of recording practices so that it would not be necessary to separately record data on younger children’s decision-making capacity every time they use healthcare services. In his decision on the age limits regarding custodians’ right to act on behalf of their children, the Deputy Chancellor of Justice has stated that provisions on the matter could be laid down by law. 

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will next examine what provisions should be laid down on the assessment of minors’ decision-making capacity and the making of the related patient record entries. 

Inquiries:

Anna Kärkkäinen, Senior Specialist, firstname.lastname@stm.fi
Ritva Halila, Senior Medical Officer, firstname.lastname@stm.fi
Joni Komulainen, Ministerial Adviser, firstname.lastname@stm.fim