Voices behind indicators for welfare and healthcare in Finland

Abstract

The voices of different kinds (i.e., stated or unstated expectations of the entities) affect the functioning of the systems. Voices of authorities (VoA), processes (VoP) and shareholders (VoS) are seen in controls interacting with an environment. Therefore, control-related indicators are prescriptive, and they provide expectations for the functioning of the systems. In the study, the entity-related approach of the voices (VoA, VoP, and VoS) adapted to formalize rules for the evaluation metadata of the KUVA and SOTKANET indicators the meaning of which is to control welfare and health in Finland. The KUVA indicators are meant to control especially cost-effectiveness. The region classifications of the KUVA and SOTKANET indicators used to figure out whether responsible information providers (VoP) and information consumers (VoA and VoS) can be established. When 15 region classifications mapped within the voices by the nine rules the result of which was that nine region classifications mapped within VoA, three within VoS, and two within VoP. The main information providers are municipalities and hospital districts and municipalities. Despite our metadata-based KUVA and SOTKANET content research, without the deployment instructions of the indicators, the municipalities and other service providers do not get a complete picture of how the authorities and shareholders see them and what is expected of them, i.e., control-related cost-effectiveness will not be transparent.