Riikka Harjula-Pyylampi from Pihlajalinna: Many clients still choose in-person appointments

I am an occupational nurse and service manager for occupational health. I work at Pihlajalinna’s clinic at the Sello shopping centre in Espoo and the new Matinkylä clinic.

As a supervisor, I must be present at the workplace most of my working time. I can hold remote appointments while I am at the clinic, if the client prefers a remote appointment. I work from home about one day a week.

When the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, we noticed that our clients clearly wanted to meet the professionals and visit the clinics in person.

The work of an occupational nurse has changed a lot in recent years. COVID-19 accelerated the development of digital remote services, such as chats and video conferencing, and remote work increased significantly during the pandemic. Electronic surveys have developed a lot, and we use them as support during health check-ups and workplace visits.

Our clients can choose between an in-person, telephone and video appointment. When the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, we noticed that our clients clearly wanted to meet the professionals and visit the clinics in person. We still offer remote clinical services and chat services, and the client numbers for these are growing steadily.

Remote work has made working so much smoother than it is certainly here to stay.

We carry out some of our health check-ups remotely, either through electronic surveys or remote appointments. Various guidance and instruction visits are also easy to arrange remotely. Negotiations with HR administration and management run smoothly and quickly via remote connections.

Even though the client is not physically present at a remote appointment, the interaction can still be intensive, because the participants have eye contact and see each other’s faces during the meeting. Remote connections are convenient for sharing instructions and other materials. We use a strong authentication portal for the secure transfer of information. Remote work has made working so much smoother than it is certainly here to stay.

It may be impossible to fully assess work ability or psychological health at a remote appointment.

There are also things that cannot be done remotely, such as testing a patient’s hearing, administering vaccines or measuring blood pressure. It may be impossible to fully assess work ability or psychological health at a remote appointment.

Workplace visits are carried out on-site because Kela requires this, but we can speed up the process by asking the customer to fill in electronic surveys. Occupational health meetings can be carried out, for example, by having the doctor and the customer present and the personnel representative attending the meeting remotely.