Better care, a growing business community and a process that may even force new legislation.
Here, the chairman of the regional board, Fredrik Larsson (M), gives his first major interview about what role he thinks Digitalwell Arena can play for Värmland - and the entire country.
There were many pieces that needed to fall into place before that
the ten-year investment in Digitalwell Arena landed in Värmland. Expertise in
Karlstad University, a strong business community in the ICT sector and the like
investments made in the paper industry were some important factors.
At least as important was the clear support from politics.
Not least then the new, digital health services that are created in the Digitalwell Arena
must be able to be tested in real environments in collaboration with the public sector. Hopefully
to the benefit of the whole of Sweden - and preferably also for people outside
the country border.
Fredrik Larsson is both proud and happy that Värmland was the venue for the venture.
- On the one hand, it is proof that we have a good structure for running this type of project and that there is a business community within this industry that is appreciated on a national level. The second is that it should be able to have effects on Värmland's business life and welfare activities, he says.
In Digitalwells Arena's program statement it is stated that the new digital health services that are created must be "user-driven". According to Fredrik Larsson's interpretation, it breaks with the traditional image of how a supply is created. In the same area, the development of care he most hopes for in a short perspective also lies.
- From a citizen's perspective, I hope that traditional care, with the help of digital tools and innovations, gets a more patient-, family- and citizen-friendly perspective, where you are not just a patient but can have a dialogue with the care.
- I might get an invitation to book an appointment. It's pretty simple technology, but I also think the technology does something to how we view ourselves in the system itself.
An important part of Digitalwell Arena's work is also to
change both organizations and individuals' behavior linked to health. One
problems that are often repeated around new thinking and innovations in care and
the health sector is the bureaucracy that surrounds the business.
There, Fredrik Larsson has high hopes of contributing to something innovative:
- Rules and bureaucracy are often cited as an obstacle to development when it comes to digitization. It is partly true, but can also be a pretext and easy to blame. But in Digitalwell Arena there is a section about testing policies and seeing what happens if you change rules or add new information exchanges, which service could that lead to? Just the possibility that we build an infrastructure to test changes to regulations - or even laws. Imagine if we could have this as a platform to test what happens if you end the law - that would be fucking exciting!
He is quite sure that users will be ready to adopt new services and drive development.
- Those who are ten years old today have never experienced a world without the smartphone. It goes quite fast, in one generation our image of reality changes a lot, says Fredrik Larsson.
Many curves in traditional care today point to errors. Not least how we consume care. Simply put, the resources will not be enough if this trend continues. Seen from that perspective, Fredrik Larsson still thinks that one must have reasonable expectations of what Digitalwell Arena can contribute to the region.
- Digitalwell Arena as an environment for a test bed is not for Värmland's needs, but there the Värmlanders can stand as a model for a need that others also have. It's important to take it with you, because there are a lot of good things happening in other places too. It is an international process of which we are a small part. When you work with innovations and future issues, you also have to be prepared that what we do may turn out to be wrong. If we build an environment to test things, it would be unlikely if everything turned out well, that is part of the methodology, says Fredrik Larsson.
He also does not believe that the solution to the problems of the future lies in just looking at the costs and needs that exist in traditional care.
- The opening of digitization is that we may be able to radically change the situation - so that we actually do things before we get sick. Then something happens, everything else is more business development or implementation of good systems. But if, with data, technology development and innovation, we know before you get sick that you can get sick and get much cheaper, simpler or more cost-effective care - then we have really made a difference.
As a politician, can it be sensitive to shift more responsibility for one's own health to the individual level?
- Always a difficult and important question for politics. We have always agreed to finance healthcare in solidarity, says Fredrik Larsson.
From experience, it is known that two groups drive the development in health services today. One is people with chronic diseases, a group that costs the most money in healthcare. The other is healthy people – who want to maintain good health.
- My picture is that there are islands of very positive development, where they try to use new technology in very specific groups, for example diabetes. I was with my son at school and met a guy at lunch who had a small plate that measured his blood sugar, he is six years old and had super control. All the data was recorded and it is a very clear example that the data, the AI, will probably know before he gets sick the next time. For those types of specific groups, a lot happens very quickly, which the pharmaceutical companies help drive. There, I think that health care generally keeps up quite well, but when it comes to those who are healthy and want to continue and be healthy, health care is not there.
What hopes do you have regarding increased digitization of care that can make it more equal?
- I think it can do that, to the extent that it can even out differences in geography, opportunities to travel and move around. It can even out differences in knowledge level, today we know that if you have a higher education, you get better care, or at least live longer. Different types of health maintenance tools can help there. At the same time, of course, there is a risk of excluding groups who do not want to be part of the digital society.
Although Digitalwell Arena is aimed at the solutions of the future, it is difficult to completely ignore the needs that exist today. For example, Värmland was the region where the lowest percentage thought that the waiting time for care and health centers was reasonable, 53 percent. This appears in the latest edition of the Health and healthcare report - open comparisons. The availability issue is also what Fredrik Larsson feels is the biggest, general problem in Swedish healthcare today.
- Maybe not from a medical perspective, but it is perceived as a problem. Future technology will change that situation for some groups, and perhaps not for others. But it is clear that if we have an AI called 1177, then the resource is basically unlimited 24/7 for each of us. It will certainly reduce the pressure and we can use the resources more wisely in other places where they are needed.
How can Region Värmland contribute to Digitalwell Arena being a successful investment?
- Region Värmland, and the municipalities, is a very large provider of welfare services and has very great competence, both in terms of leadership and development. We have access to data and systems and it is probably our own opportunities to get involved that limit us. It is difficult to get enough time and money, otherwise there are really no limitations to what we can contribute to, for example when it comes to creating environments for test beds.
