Kouvola enhances its health management
The Town of Kouvola is piloting a new health management service to improve its employees’ work ability. The service is being provided by Kunnan Taitoa Oy in cooperation with Aino Health Management. The health management service enables municipalities to systematically monitor work ability in accordance with the early support model.
A health management service tailored to the Town of Kouvola by Taitoa and Aino is currently being piloted. The pilot phase will last until the end of 2016, and the operating model will be developed based on user experiences during that time. Other municipalities are interested in hearing about the results of the pilot project and the experiences gained during the project.
The Town of Kouvola is aiming to have highly competent personnel with a high level of well-being at work. The cost of work disability has been high in Kouvola in recent years. Now the goal is to reduce sickness absences by systematically paying attention to work ability issues at an early stage, when such issues can be resolved most easily. The health management system provides the necessary tools for work ability management.
– “Aino offers a tool for implementing our own work ability operating model that aims to support employees’ well-being and work ability throughout their careers. The electronic system helps us monitor the functionality of our work ability processes, as well as our ability to respond to issues in a timely manner,” says Päivi Karhu, Personnel Director at the Town of Kouvola.
Aino provides a tool for ensuring that supervisors discuss the situation with an employee if the number of sickness absences exceeds a predetermined limit. Among other features, the town has access to an alarm system that notifies supervisors of such cases. The system also serves to ensure that the jointly agreed operating model is used consistently throughout the organisation as part of daily management and supervisory work.
New type of health management reduces municipal costs
Kunnan Taitoa is a national HR and financial operator that improves management through knowledge in municipalities.
The health management service is part of Taitoa’s new set of management information services. The partnership between Taitoa and Aino offers new types of opportunities for municipal managers to affect preventive well-being at work and its maintenance, as well as the optimisation of personnel resources and cooperation with occupational healthcare.
Effective health management reduces the cost of work disability and sickness absences in municipalities.
– “Municipalities have a clear need for digitised health management processes that produce
valuable information for personnel resource management about sickness absences and their cost, even by unit and in real time. Aino is an experienced operator offering a system and concept that have been tried and tested in the world of business. It is the most comprehensive solution for the needs of municipal well-being management currently on the market,” says Sari Kujala, Development Director at Taitoa.
– “Aino provides companies with tools for efficiently managing sickness absences and risks related to work ability and for improving working capacity and optimising healthcare services. The best results are achieved by permanently improving working capacity and by reducing risks through early intervention,” says Markku Pitkänen, COO at Aino.
More information:
Sari Kujala, Development Director, Kunnan Taitoa, tel. +358 20 610 9095, sari.kujala@taitoa.fi
Markku Pitkänen, COO, Aino Health Management, tel. +358 40 838 1587, markku.pitkanen@ainohealth.com
Päivi Karhu Personnel Director, Town of Kouvola, tel. +358 20 615 4001, paivi.karhu@kouvola.fi
Taitoa is the largest national financial and HR operator in the municipal sector in Finland. The company is owned by nearly 200 municipal communities. It is a non-profit company that develops its services in cooperation with its municipal clients. Taitoa serves more than 100 clients and has more than 550 experts as employees around the country. The Taitoa Group’s net sales were EUR 33.0 million in 2015. Founded in 2010 as part of the Municipal Service Centre project of the Finnish Innovation Fund, Taitoa has established its position and improved the cost-efficiency of municipalities and joint municipal authorities, as well as the quality of HR and financial management and reporting that supports decision-making.
Kouvola is a diverse town with around 86,000 inhabitants and a wide range of services. It is the regional centre of Northern Kymenlaakso and the tenth largest city in Finland. A town committed to sustainable development, Kouvola has a vibrant agricultural sector and is an attractive location for second homes and summer cottages. It offers a high quality of life at an affordable cost in safe environment close to nature. The service organisation of the Town of Kouvola is based on customer-focused operations, with experts in different fields working together and producing results that are meaningful for the local residents and society. The Town of Kouvola has around 6,000 employees. In 2014, its operating expenses were EUR 580.7 million, of which EUR 273.0 million were personnel expenses.
Aino Health Management Ltd serves as a partner for results-focused health management. When a municipality invests in its employees’ work ability and the effective management of its health-related costs, its results improve. Aino provides companies with tools for managing sickness absences and risks related to working capacity, improving work ability and optimising healthcare services:
– Expert services for managers for optimising the content, efficiency and cost of healthcare
– Management systems and healthcare telephone services for reducing the number of sickness absences and managing work ability risks
– Services for analysing and permanently improving employees’ working capacity and reducing the risk of work disability.