We spoke to Matts Lindgren, head of operations at Dalarna County Council and project manager of Min Vård, who told us about who the visitors to their digital practice are.
“It took less time than we thought to get our patients on board.”
-Matts Lindgren
How does it feel to have things up and running?
– Great! It’s interesting and fun and it took less time than we thought to get our patients on board. I was also a bit surprised to learn that our biggest user group is women between 40 and 60. I thought video consultations would mainly be used by younger people who are more used to modern technology.
How do the staff experience video consultations as a tool in their everyday life?
– Those who have worked with video consultations like it and have good insight into the type of care that you can provide digitally. They have noticed that there is a need for quick and easy contact. Visits are quick, informative, and concrete. And the staff find it exciting! Those who are not working with digital healthcare yet are also positive about the development. However, you notice a shortage of doctors, as time and resources may need shifting from other physical GP practices.
What opportunities or challenges to your digital practice are there for you as an organisation?
– “We are doing it as a one-year project to determine if it is a good complement to our physical care.
It is obviously a challenge to move from physical meetings to digital ones. We must assign patients to the right care level and ensure that the right expertise is used for the right patient, for example making sure that nurse advice and treatment is handled by a nurse and physiotherapist advice and treatment is handled by a physiotherapist. But so far it has been going well, including referral and cooperation with specialists. We will continue to develop the work with digital visits in the future. This will, for example, launch our digital youth clinic in October 2017.
What would you say others should consider before opening a digital practice?
– Start small. Have greater visions and keep building. Involve employees who are interested and have relevant expertise. Set firm limitations and stick to them. Remember that digital IT operations should support healthcare and not the other way around.”
What feedback have you had from the patients?
– Most are positive and satisfied with getting quick, efficient help. Occasionally you have problems with the technology, and it can be hard to know if they are due to technical errors or user-related issues. But the overall response has been very good.
