By Carola Winberg and Jahn Sundin, Tietoevry
For many social and healthcare employees, documentation and administration can take up a large part of their workday. However, digitalizing services and work tasks can make them more efficient, more secure and enables care providers to dedicate more time to their clients or patients.
Over the past decade or so, Sweden has taken huge strides in implementing digital tools when it comes to social service and healthcare provision. Today, citizens can use e-services to apply for welfare payments, report child abuse, book medical appointments or renew prescriptions. Meanwhile, care personal can quickly and efficient access client data and reduce the need for cumbersome paperwork.
Several factors have enabled such rapid digitalization of social- and healthcare services in Sweden, including high internet penetration and smartphone usage, as well as other well-established digital tools for personal identification. However, Sweden is proof of the efficiency gains made possible by digitalization and offers many lessons that other countries can learn from.
Why digital tools help both providers and recipients
The biggest benefit of this transition is enhanced efficiency. Historically, when a care provider visited an elderly home, they would need to carry patient records, care instructions and other documentation in physical form. Today, they can access all this information via their smartphone instead. They can quickly identify the patient they need to see and access all necessary instructions for their care. Providers can also ensure their clients are meeting personnel with the right competences to meet their needs, further lifting the overall quality of care.
For the patient or care recipient, digitalization means transparency. They can follow their cases, track applications and access their own documentation – all online. This can be empowering for the client, by giving them more control and oversight of their care.
But most importantly, more efficient workflows free up time, allowing care providers to focus on what they do best: caring for the clients.
How AI and emerging technologies can enhance care even further
As in many industries, the emergence of AI is opening new opportunities. Already, we have successfully implemented an AI function for nurses that enables them to access classification codes quickly and efficiently. Rather than having to search through hundreds of codes and their descriptions, nurses can simply describe the procedures they administrated, and a shortlist of applicable codes can be generated via AI.
We are also currently working with an AI-powered speech-to-text functionality that is integrated into the social care IT platform and designed specifically for social care users. This will further save time by removing the need to write detailed notes.
If you would like to learn more about the digitalisation of social care and healthcare services in Sweden, we will be giving a more in-depth presentation at the European Social Services Conference in Aarhus, Denmark. We will also be present at the Tietoevry stand where you can learn more about Tietovery’s software solutions.