My Health 2022: lessons from Sweden

From 13 to 15 May 2019, a delegation of 10 French healthcare executives form FEHAP visited Sweden to discover what lessons this Nordic healthcare system offers to their country in the perspective of the restructuring reform "My Health 2022". During three days of visits and meetings, the French delegation discovered Swedish advances in telemedicine, value-based payment and integration of patient's pathways.

A meeting with the Karolinska University Hospital's Telehealth expert, Dr Groth helped participants to understand how this institution is using new technologies to treat complex patients throughout the country. eExpertise and eConsults, are all tools that enable professionals based in Stockholm to improve the patient experience by caring for them wherever they are. The Academic Specialized Center is the Karolinska's clinic for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes or arthritis. They presented our participants with their daily use of these technological innovations. Exchanges with 8 Swedish startups allowed our delegates to discover original connected solutions, combining virtual reality, mobile health and artificial intelligence.

To understand the stakes of bundled payment, the French delegation had the privilege of a cross-presentation between Dr. Holger Stalberg, at the initiative of these innovative value-based payment for the Stockholm region and Dr. Wiren, head of the orthopedic service of St Görans Hospital (Capio Group). This discussion, combined with an on-site look into the patients' journey within the hospital, was the opportunity for an in-depth discovery of this restructuring innovation. Indeed, the Orthochoice program, created in 2008, provides fixed bundled payment for all care related to a hip or knee surgery.

Finally, participants visited the North Stockholm Psychiatric Hospital (Norra Stockholms Psykiatri), where organizational innovations were presented to them, such as a psychiatric SMUR serving the city of Stockholm from 14h to 2h every day of the year. This innovation is successfully decreasing emergency hospitalizations by a third, improving the quality of life of patients and helping the police forces in their duties.

The unanimous conclusion of the members of the group was to highlight the richness of the Swedish healthcare system's lessons for France, from the point of view of practices and organizations as well as new technologies already deployed in routine. International experience is always useful to prepare for future challenges!