The head of Kela estimates that a large part of Vastamo’s customers have continued therapy with a familiar therapist.
Thousands People in need of psychotherapy found themselves in a difficult situation at the beginning of the year, when the psychotherapy center Vastamo closed down as a result of a breach of information.
In addition to the fact that the patient data of the persons in therapy were leaked online, they had to seek therapy elsewhere. The worst case scenario was that all rehabilitation psychotherapy clients would have had to look for a new therapist in a panic at the same time.
How has the therapy of Vastamo’s customers been arranged?
The clinic had about 2,600 customers who received rehabilitation psychotherapy supported by Kela. In addition, about 180 clients received support for demanding medical rehabilitation. Head of the Center of Expertise Mikko Toivanen Kela says that the majority of Vastamo’s customers have been able to continue therapy.
“There has been no large-scale shortage or shortage of therapists, so fears at the beginning of the year did not materialize.”
Toivanen says that some clients have continued with the same therapists who have moved from Vastamo to another employer or become self – employed.
According to Kela, the search for a new therapist has mainly been left to the clients themselves. However, Kela has assisted in finding a therapist and has been ready to grant new rehabilitation decisions quickly.
Kela does not have statistics on how many of Vastamo’s clients changed therapists as a result of the events.
“The change was mostly very good. Of course, there may have been some individual clients who had to look for a new therapist, but they were able to respond quite well, ”Toivanen says.
The office has been providing rehabilitation psychotherapy supported by Kela since 2011 and demanding medical rehabilitation since 2015.
Verve Terapia oy acquired Vastamo’s Psychotherapy services, and Vastamo’s employees moved to Verve as former employees in March.
The clients of the clinic agreed with their own therapist to continue the therapy relationship in Verve.
CEO of Verve Hannu Ronkainen says less than a hundred therapists transferred from Vastamo to the company. Before the uproar, Vastamo had more than 250 employees.
“The transfer of therapists to other companies had already taken place significantly at the stage when Vastamo applied for liquidation,” says Ronkainen.
Therapists who moved to Verve were able to continue client relationships almost without interruption.
“I understand that for almost all clients, therapy has continued with the same psychotherapists,” says Ronkainen.
Period of transition was challenging as Vervelle did not migrate databases or software from Vastamo.
“We had to leave the clean table, so it caused a lot of confusion and work for our therapists,” Ronkainen says.
The hacker’s data breach has raised therapy customers’ concerns about the secure storage of patient data. Ronkainen emphasizes that Verve uses a patient information system that meets all security requirements.
“We have gone through a secure approach with our therapists. The authorities have also been our support, ”says Ronkainen.
In part A commitment had been received from the city or municipality from the customers of the reception center. For example, none of the persons who received therapy with the commitment given by the City of Helsinki had to stop therapy.
“There were no problems with continuing therapy. Clients were allowed to continue with the same therapist if they wished, ”said Director of Psychiatry and Substance Abuse Services Mikko Tamminen The city of Helsinki says.
Already in November last year, the city announced that it would suspend new purchases of purchasing services with Vastamo.
The Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (Hus) had given a commitment to about 90 Vastamo’s customers, whose treatment was in progress at the beginning of the year. Director of Psychiatry Jan-Henry Stenberg Husista estimated in January that most clients would continue their therapy with the help of the same therapist.
The customer’s customer data was hacked online in November 2018. Information about the large-scale data breach became public in October 2020, when the company’s patient data appeared on a dark network.
.
#Mental #health #worst #fears #followup #therapies #Vastamos #customers #materialize #majority #continue #therapy
