SWEDEN: National E-health Strategy Launched

STOCKHOLM (E-health Europe), April 3, 2008: The Swedish government has launched a new citizen-centred national e-health strategy designed around ensuring the provision of information to where it is needed to support improvements in care. The new e-health strategy focuses on the need to use information and communication technologies (ICT) to achieve improvements for patients, health professionals and decision-makers. Setting out the future strategy for e-health in the country, the government says it will use appropriate ICT-based tools to “help to ensure that all patients receive adequate, safe, secure health care and good-quality service”. E-health will be used to ensure care professionals can devote more time to patients and adapt care provision to individual needs. “ICT will be used as a strategic tool at all levels in the care sector, and health care resources as a whole will be utilised more efficiently and effectively,” says the strategy The government says ICT should support the development of a health service where information is freely available, both in health settings and online. This will include providing citizens with access to personal data on their own care, treatment and health status. It says citizens “must also be able to contact care services via the internet for assistance, advice or help with self-treatment”. Healthcare professionals meanwhile should have access to efficient, interoperable eHealth solutions that support them in their daily work,” the document says. Read on National Strategy for eHealth - Sweden © 2008 E-HEALTH-MEDIA LTD.