Last week, Socialstyrelsen (the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare) published an interesting report on e-health and welfare technology in Swedish municipalities in 2020. The report confirms that mobile apps and digital technological solutions have become increasingly common in municipal healthcare. However, in many municipalities, these initiatives are still in the pilot phase.
Click here to access the report: Socialstyrelsen’s report on e-health and welfare technology in municipalities 2020.
Among other things, Socialstyrelsen asked home care services in municipalities about the use of “medical dispensers.”
Medical dispensers are digital aids that remind patients when it’s time to take their medication, dispense the medication, and notify healthcare providers of any deviations. Synonyms for this term include medication dispenser, medication robot, medication reminder, and medication vending machine.
- According to Socialstyrelsen, there are 878 “medical dispensers” in use across municipalities.
- 28 percent of Swedish municipalities use medical dispensers in municipal healthcare.
An excerpt from the report highlights what the interviewees consider most important to invest in regarding digitalization. Several interviewees emphasize the importance of investing in measures that improve the working conditions for staff. This includes:
- Building a digital infrastructure that ensures no employee is excluded.
- Enhancing the competence and thus the confidence of the staff, so that they do not perceive digitalization as a threat. This also enables social workers and service providers to promote positive attitudes towards digital interventions among social service users. Education and skills development are important for both staff and managers to ensure everyone is on board. Another important area mentioned is measures that lead to efficiency gains. This includes:
- Digital medication reminders that provide significant efficiency gains for the municipality and ensure quality for individuals using them.
- Anything that enhances quality and saves human resources, such as the possibility of digital meetings with individuals.
- Removing tasks that do not pertain to the profession, streamlining administration, and eliminating the need for staff to “run around with paperwork.”
- Technical infrastructure, such as Wi-Fi in special accommodations.
- Enabling staff to read and document information in operational systems and other systems while working remotely.
- Enabling home monitoring for regional healthcare services. Home care and the region can share equipment.
Socialstyrelsen notes that the risk of spreading infections can be reduced when healthcare and social care staff use digital technology whenever possible and appropriate. The data collection for this report was conducted in January and February 2020, before COVID-19 became a reality in Sweden.