Ostrobothnia Digital Clinic Experiment

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) examines the impacts of a publicly provided digital clinic that offers digital primary care services to consumers. This intervention grants access to a public digital clinic that provides chat-based primary care consultations via a mobile phone application and website, including care needs assessment, diagnoses, follow-up care recommendations, and prescriptions. The digital clinic supplements traditional public primary care services, including in-person visits and phone consultations. The trial takes place in Ostrobothnia, Finland, a healthcare district serving a population of 178,000 residents. The investigators will randomize access to the digital clinic at the household level, providing access to 50% of the households. By doing so, the investigators aim to evaluate whether digital services can substitute for, complement, or increase the utilization of traditional primary care, particularly in-person visits or calls to traditional clinics. At the end of the nine-month trial, access to the digital clinic will be expanded to the entire population.

NCT Number	NCT06904469
Lead Sponsor	Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare Collaborators: Aalto University, University of Turku
Conditions	Primary Care Provider
Enrollment	170,306 participants
Start Date	2025-04-15
Primary Completion	2026-01-14 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-01-14 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-08-20