As clear as mud
“We made a survey that showed us that as many as one in three Norwegians struggle to understand letters from the government and its branches. The complex language found in laws and regulations often makes its way onto the forms and letters citizens have to fill out,” Rigmor Aasrud, the Minister of Government Administration, Reform, and Church Affairs, tells The Foreigner by email.
The report, presented to Robin Kåss, State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services in February 2011, shows that if ICT systems work better in healthcare, patients will receive both faster and safer treatment. The Norwegian hospitals invest about 1.6 % of disposable assets in ICT, an amount smaller than the one invested in hospitals by the neighbouring Nordic countries.
Read more: NO: Report reveals the need for more investment in healthcare ICT
In practice, when the patients participating in the pilot need a prescription, their doctors send it to a central database via their computer. The only thing the patients need to do to have the medicines delivered at the pharmacy, is to provide their social security number to the chemist.
This shows the success of OEP among citizens since its launch in May 2010. It is also worth noting that since 4 October 2010, the mail records of 17 new agencies have been made available in the OEP. An additional 21 agencies will soon follow, 18 of which include county governments. This means that by the end of October 2010, 70 government agencies will have joined the OEP.
Read more: Norway: Electronic database of public mail records proves highly successful
DIFI's plans include the integration in several phases of the personalised, one-stop self-service portal 'Miside' ('MyPage', in English) with the existing 'Noreg.no' in an aim to further structure the eGovernment portal around citizen needs and daily lives. The new Noreg.no will still be a guide to public information and services and it shall facilitate contacts between citizens and the Public Administration.
Read more: Norway: Citizens have their say in development of new eGovernment portal