The solution to health care challenges? Politicians and the health care system have high expectations for AI and digitization. Success factors are integrated and user-friendly systems that cooperate with users. Solutions are also needed for unable or unwilling to use digital healthcare.
This year’s politician week in Almedalen was full of talks and workshops on digitization and artificial intelligence (AI). A search in the program for the word “digitization” produced 547 hits. Artificial intelligence and AI were mentioned 142 times in the program. A large number of these instances concerned health care.
“Everyone sees the power of digitization, and now we also have a collective ehealth vision and a national council that promote this,” said Anders Henriksson, first vice-chair of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL), at a seminar organized by the Swedish Medical Association under the heading “More Effective Primary Health Care with New Technology.”
Daniel Forslund, commissioner for innovation and ehealth on the Stockholm County Council, stated that the patient demand for the online medical center Kry and similar private services today is as great as for 1177 Vårdguiden (Heath Care Guide), a fact that is further driving developments.
Gunnar Svärd, district medical officer in Borlänge, talked about the Dalarna County Council’s initiative involving an entirely digital medical center and argues that all medical centers need to have a digital presence.
At the same time, the need for adjusting how medical centers are compensated was stressed. A chat feature allowing doctors to answer questions from individual patients also needs to provide income to the medical center.
Digital services also need to be optional. Johanna Hall, secretary of PRO (the Swedish National Pensioners’ Organization) pointed out that physical meetings with a nurse or physician will need to continue to be an option, especially for older patients who often are less familiar with web-based services.
Members of the retiree organization PRO are the first to gain access to an web-based health and lifestyle tool that was developed by researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and that aims to promote a high quality of life and good health through simple tips.
Moving from talk to action
There’s a lot happening in health care digitization, but time pressures and lack of incentives make it difficult for the health care system to incorporate innovations into day-to-day operations.
“We need user-friendly and integrated systems, with digital experts close at hand. Today they are too far away,” said Heidi Stensmyren, chair of the Swedish Medical Association. “We want to see innovation as part of the County Council’s mission. Financial incentives may be necessary so that cost savings can be used to develop services.”
Robert Winroth, commissioner for the Västerbotten County Council, concluded that health care needs to learn more from private businesses, academia and other parties, but that the solutions need to be based on actual needs, not “conference room needs.”
“It’s extremely important to involve clinicians in organizing the solutions. That’s our experience,” said Vivek Reddy, chief health information officer of Intermountain Healthcare in the U.S. “We let the clinical teams develop solutions together, and it’s important that the whole team is represented – that is, that every professional role is included.”
Reddy described the benefits of starting with a system that incorporates health data on patients from various health care providers. This gives a better overall picture, enabling long-term work toward better health, not just to cure illness. He points out that it is also cost-effective.
It doesn’t work if the solutions come from the top.
– Vivek Reddy
MARGARETA GUSTAFSSON KUBISTA
ANNA von PORAT
