Monitoring the digital healthcare transition in Denmark: Challenges, achievements and future

Abstract Denmark is often mentioned as one of the countries that have introduced digital solutions early and extensively within the health care sector, including the launch of health portal sundhed.dk in 2003, the introduction of the e-record system ‘e-Journalen’ in 2007, and the establishment of a national infrastructure for telemedicine in 2012. Denmark is well advanced in digital health measurement, providing opportunities for researching the digital transition and its effects for healthcare organizations and Danish citizens. Most digital health data is collected through national population-based databases and registries. Additionally, annual surveys of health professionals and biennial surveys of citizens’ use of health IT are conducted. Recent data show that all general practitioners use electronic health records, mainly for receiving laboratory test results from hospitals, ordering prescriptions at pharmacies, exchanging records, and sending referrals to hospitals. This workshop provides an overview of developments in Denmark and a discussion of challenges, achievements, and prospects. Particular attention will be paid to the monitoring of digitalization progress and effects, and the use of digital solutions in primary and secondary care. Issues about implementation and evaluation of digital infrastructure will be discussed with examples from Danish health care. A key question is whether digital solutions can fulfill their promise of supporting integrated and home based health care in an era of changing demographics.