Patient briefly registered as dead in Pirkanmaa electronic health records

After seeking remote help for back pain, 53-year-old Arska Kallio found himself briefly listed as deceased in Omakanta, the national patient portal, YLE reports.

The mistake came to light at a dental hygienist appointment when staff noticed a death entry dated 27 September and asked Kallio about it. The record carried ICD-10 code R99 (other or unspecified cause of death) and included notes about heart rhythm problems that Kallio says did not apply to him. Pirha says a doctor made the incorrect entries.

Pirkanmaa leaders say the incorrect entry never reached the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), so it did not trigger automatic actions such as benefit stoppages or account closures. Sari Mäkinen, director for social and health services at Pirha, called it a human mistake and "a unique error" and said the status was corrected quickly. Kallio said the incident left him briefly unsettled and that he would have welcomed a clearer apology.

The case was first reported locally by Iltalehti. It follows a mammography records mix-up that affected fewer than ten people and missing access logs that left some record views untraceable.