2. TYÖOTE operating model in practice

The TYÖOTE model is a collaboration between occupational health care and public health care. The core idea behind the collaboration is that, in certain diagnoses, public health care only issues short sick leaves for patients, who are then referred to occupational health care for more detailed and unique assessments of their working ability and setting up supporting practices for re-establishing their ability to work and their eventual return to work.

TYÖOTE operating model (length 4:17)

The operating model is built in co-operation with regional social and health service providers

The TYÖOTE operating model is custom-tailored to each wellbeing services county depending on their needs and distinctive features. While the model is being made by regional social and health care service providers in collaboration, an accurate mapping of the process is made that highlights the specifics and the responsibilities of each provider in the model's implementation. This way, the TYÖOTE model can achieve the highest possible efficiency and establishes itself as a crucial part of the health care of the working-age population.

The model is built around patient groups. The entities that take part in the construction are the specialist, and if necessary, the primary health care workers representing the patient group, the representative of occupational health care, the hospital's TYÖOTE co-ordinator, and the developer partners from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. If required, this planning committee, called "Työnyrkki" (Task Force), can be supplemented with additional entities, such as the representative of the patient organization. "Työnyrkki" polishes up the details of the operating model and determines the responsibilities of each provider in the process.

In the future, the operating model can be broadened to include every applicable patient group. In addition to establishing the collaboration between specialist and occupational health care, the TYÖOTE model aims to bring occupational health care, primary health care and rehabilitation services closer to each other in their collaborative efforts.

A multidisciplinary collaboration forum is also established in the wellbeing services county that closely follows the progression of the TYÖOTE model in the area, and on a broader scale, monitors the social and health care service package for the working-age population and the co-operation of different social security providers.

Occupational health care service providers establish their own regional collaboration team with multi-professional representation from all OHC facilities in the area. The purpose of the group is to bring all OHC providers closer to each other and work more as a team, and to ensure that the OHC providers in the area are prepared for the new operating model.

The TYÖOTE operating model is suitable for treating e.g., surgical procedures, depression, coronary heart disease, neurological impairments, traumas, and cancers.

The TYÖOTE operating model's role in supporting the working ability of employees with different illnesses

The TYÖOTE model has mostly been used with patients who have received hip or knee joint replacement surgery, but the operating model also fits well into other surgical operations. In addition, it is suitable for cardiological, neurological, physiatric, psychiatric, trauma and cancer patients.

Practical experiences of the TYÖOTE operating model

TYÖOTE has been operational in Central Finland for a long time already. Experiences from the operating model from an orthopedist and an occupational health physician can be seen in the video below. The length of the video is 05:02.