Improving the Public–Public Partnership between a Rescue Department and an Integrated Social and Health Care Organization

Abstract

Public social and health care organizations everywhere are facing challenges caused by an aging population, declining birth rates, and urbanization. To address these challenges, innovative operating models and flexible IT solutions supporting collaboration between public-sector organizations are required. Our paper introduces an example of a progressive collaboration model between the Rescue Department of South Karelia (EKP) and South Karelia social and health care district (Eksote), which are frontrunners in the synergy-producing cooperation of rescue board services at the rescue department level with social and health services. The purpose of our qualitative case study is to investigate how Eksote and EKP could further strengthen their public-public partnership (PuP) to improve regional risk management by jointly planning and executing preventive actions and services. The main objectives are to: 1) understand the reasoning behind and the success factors of a public-public partnership; 2) investigate how a joint customer and process management system could support the partnership between a social and health care organization and a rescue department; and 3) identify ways to improve the public-public partnership between a social and health care organization and a rescue department. This study builds on the existing literature on public-public partnerships by incorporating a customer and process management system into the partnership between a social and health care organization and a rescue department. The empirical data were collected via 16 semi-structured interviews conducted between June 2020 and April 2021. The results indicate that the public sector must determine new and innovative ways of working together to overcome the challenges prevalent in the current operational environment. To support collaborative actions and processes between social and health care organizations and rescue departments, actions are needed on national, regional, organizational, and professional levels. As the public sector is facing similar challenges everywhere, the results can be utilized in Finland and in the international setting.