Swedish research collaboration on digital care

Digital consultations in healthcare include many different forms of contacts between patients and healthcare professionals using digital channels/platforms. Digital consultations occur both in primary care and specialist outpatient care.

The number of digital consultations have increased rapidly in Swedish healthcare over the past 5-years, not least during the pandemic, and today an increasing variety of ways to communicate with healthcare are offered - e.g. through chats such as 1177 direct.

It can be assumed that both the different types of digital care and the number of such contacts will continue to increase and change over time.

New trends like generative AI and self-monitoring will also affect how digital care can be offered, and both patients’ and healthcare professionals’ experiences of digital care.

Research on digital care is conducted in many scientific fields; ranging from design and implementation to evaluations of impact. The research aims to analyse both clinical effects of digital consultations, and the financial impact of such care. Through qualitative research, effects on the work environment and patients’ experiences of care are studied.

Considering the ongoing development in this area, and the great interest from researchers from different fields, there is a continued need for a interdisciplinary Swedish research collaboration for digital consultations and digital care.

The aim of the collaboration or network is to strengthen research in this area, to inform and support each other, topics to be discussed include e.g. methodological concerns and access to data from healthcare providers.

To share experiences of ongoing and planned research, to establish new research collaborations, and to coordinate research initiatives and spread research results to the surrounding society remain additional goals of the network.