Seven Providers Win Four-Year Adult Dental Contracts in Tampere

From next year, Tampere's adult dental purchase services will be handled by seven selected providers under four-year contracts, Tamperelainen reports. The move is intended to give patients longer care relationships and better continuity. The Pirkanmaa wellbeing area says the model focuses on prevention and on supporting patients' self-care, aiming to reduce the need for heavy treatments and improve outcomes. Purchased services will complement the area's own dental offerings. They will be used mainly to ensure the treatment guarantee is met. The reform introduces a proactive pricing model to control costs over the long term and steer resources more efficiently. It adopts a total-responsibility approach to develop more patient-centred oral health services. The change is part of the wellbeing area's wider health-service reforms, which include plans to centralise outpatient psychiatry in Tampere the centralisation plan and the planned Kauppi university health centre for 60,000 residents the Kauppi project.