The NPO will make real time patient information available nationally to county councils, local authorities and private healthcare providers in Sweden. Ultimately, Swedish residents themselves will be able to access their own medical records.
Under the agreement, Scandinavian IT company TietoEnator, based in Sweden and Finland, will provide the NPO system. The deal is worth €12.2 million and runs for five years, with an option to extend it for a further two years.
The system is planned to be ready for production within a year, with final testing being carried out three months prior to the launch at Örebro's county council and local authority.
Lars Andåker, chairman of National Centre for Coordination of e-Health, said: "We are very pleased that the negotiations regarding the NPO are complete.
"Our evaluation of the project is satisfactory, and the total cost falls within the expected price range. I am now looking forward to the next stage, which involves setting up the NPO – and obviously, most importantly, the upcoming delivery to users."
Scandinavia is seen as a leading European region in the development of digital health systems.
Mats Sandström of InterSystems, whose software will be utilised in the NPO, said: "The Nordic healthcare market is regularly cited as the frontrunner in the development of digital healthcare. This is in part because the Nordic countries have applied modern technology to deliver high standards of care, but also because of the commitment to provide those high levels of care to all citizens in these countries."
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Quelle/Source: Hospital IT Europe, 18.03.2008
