Less admin, more care: Lifecare Resource Optimization lightens the load for nursing staff in Finland

After a joint specification and development project between the wellbeing services county of South Ostrobothnia, Finland, and Tietoevry Care, the Lifecare Resource Optimization solution was implemented in the county’s first outpatient clinics in May 2024.

"Our wellbeing services county’s resource planning was largely manual and time-consuming, with information collected from various systems into Post-it notes and Excel spreadsheets. In our extensive development program, we analyzed long-term measures and their impact on resource planning. The goal was to lighten the planning staff’s cognitive load and overall workload by automating operations. Tietoevry Care's solution was a good fit for this need," says Marjo Patana, ICT Development Manager for Production Management at the wellbeing services county of South Ostrobothnia.

"The implementation of Lifecare Resource Optimization was planned in collaboration with various outpatient clinics, whose sizes and areas of expertise varied from surgery to orthopedics and urology. I am very pleased that we managed to engage the head nurses in this project and the overall development effort. The project also included representatives from HR and facility management," says Tytti Valli, Manager of Social and Health Application Services at South Ostrobothnia county.

The development of the solution has been carried out in close and effective cooperation between the county’s project team and Tietoevry Care's experts. Tommi Koistinen, Lead Product Manager of Lifecare Resource Optimization, explains that the solution is being further developed: "We are exploring how to bring even more intelligence to Lifecare Resource Optimization. For example, to improve forecasting, the optimization of automatic allocation, and decision support. The solution can also be integrated with production management applications from other providers. This way, it can truly help counties improve their operations and achieve cost savings."

Sami Penttilä, head nurse at the surgical and orthopedic outpatient clinics of the South Ostrobothnia county, has been pleased with Lifecare Resource Optimization. "Once the background information – such as staff, competencies, facilities, working hours and services – has been entered into the solution, the rest is easy. Previously, weekly resource allocation took several hours, as information had to be extracted from many different systems. Now the entire process takes at most half an hour per outpatient clinic. As we include more professional groups, it will save even more time in the future," he explains.

Penttilä also praises the solution: "As a new head nurse, I can say that this is one of the most straightforward solutions I have seen. It’s user-friendly and provides a clear overview of the outpatient clinic's situation. Also, all users have access to the same information. This helps with induction efforts and works well in our current organization, where head nurses are responsible for many outpatient clinics and also work as substitutes. This means that they don't necessarily have background information on all outpatient clinics."

"Daily management in the social and health sector requires time and the availability of supervisors. With the implementation of Lifecare Resource Optimization, I can focus on managing my employees and managing change, instead of spending a lot of time on my computer. I definitely recommend this solution to the other wellbeing services counties. Some solutions are burdensome, while others make everyday life easier. This one belongs to the latter category," says Penttilä.

Growing interest in other wellbeing services counties

The county of South Ostrobothnia aims to serve as many different outpatient clinics as possible with Lifecare Resource Optimization. By the end of 2025, the target is for 10 outpatient clinics to be using the solution.

"The solution meets the main functionalities required in the county’s specifications, which means we can quickly include new requirements in the future. We would also like to include new user groups, such as physiotherapists, and later include primary healthcare as well. The development work we have done has sparked interest in other wellbeing services counties, and we hope that others will join in developing this groundbreaking solution. It improves predictability in daily work and helps to prevent unexpected situations, which in turn is reflected in a clearer and more unified care pathway for the patient," says Valli.

For more information, please contact  

Tietoevry Newsdesk, news@tietoevry.com, +358 40 570 4072

Tietoevry Care is a leading provider of health and social care software in the Nordics. We are modernising the health and social care sector with our modular, open, and interoperable Lifecare software, supporting the daily lives of over 10 million Nordic citizens. Our data-driven approach empowers care professionals to uncover critical insights and deliver the right support at the right time, ensuring a smoother and more personalized care experience for everyone.  

We are part of Tietoevry, a leading technology company with annual revenue of approximately EUR 2 billion*. Tietoevry’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ exchange in Helsinki and Stockholm, as well as on Oslo Børs. www.tietoevry.com    

* Tietoevry Tech Services is excluded due to the divestment signed in March 2025. The transaction is expected to close during Q3 2025.