OREBRO, Sweden – Sweden rolled out the first stage of the Swedish National Patient Summary initiative last month, according to the project's partnering IT vendors, InterSystems and Tieto. The nationwide EHR is billed as one of the first of its kind in the world.

The aim of the project, known as NPÖ, is to improve patient security and quality of care by rolling out the national electronic health record in stages. The first of these stages saw the implementation of the records across the Örebro County Council and the municipality of Örebro.

Only one year was spent developing the legal context, patient consent and IT infrastructure for the first stage of implementation, the vendors said,

The Swedish Healthcare Advisory Organization in 2008 selected Helsinki, Finland-based Tieto for the development, implementation and hosting of the NPÖ, and Tieto subsequently selected Cambridge, Mass.-based InterSystems' HealthShare as the health information exchange software program.

"We are delighted that the first stage of NPÖ is completed," said Ulrika Landström, NPÖ project manager at Örebro. "Sweden is leading the way in terms of integrated healthcare records. The NPÖ, supported by Tieto and InterSystems, allows county councils to exchange patient information."

"We are proud to be part of this project," said Mats Sandström, InterSystems country manager, Nordic. "The fact that it is being deployed as planned is a testament to the commitment of all involved. We now look forward to supporting the rest of the 20 county councils and nearly 290 municipalities in Sweden, to gain seamless connection to the NPÖ. It is also the objective for 2009 to connect Östergötland to the service and to prepare three other county councils for connection. At present Sörmland, Blekinge, Uppsala, Västra Götaland and Stockholm have all expressed interest."

Photo by Mrs. Gemstone obtained under Creative Commons license.