Health agency urges Sweden to loosen patient-record suppliers’ grip
Sweden’s e-health agency wants stronger national rules to reduce regions’ dependence on individual patient-record suppliers, after finding that high switching costs and large bundled systems limit competition.
In a report released Monday, E-hälsomyndigheten identifies high barriers for new suppliers and difficulties assessing systems’ quality and performance. Buying many functions from one supplier can make it harder to replace a single part without changing the wider system.
The agency recommends shared standards so systems can exchange and interpret information in the same way. More open systems would let regions choose and combine products from different suppliers, it argues.
It also wants the state to investigate certification, common rules for connecting systems and support for smaller suppliers entering the market. The recommendations would require further national action.
DailySweden
DailySweden's desk of editors, reporters, researchers and investigative journalists. We bring readers factual, truthful and objective reporting on the issues that matter to them.