Overview

The Swedish government together with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) have developed a vision for a Swedish e-Health strategy.  This vision states that by 2025, “Sweden will be best in the world at using the opportunities offered by digitization and eHealth, making it easier for people to achieve good and equal health and welfare, and to develop and strengthen their own resources for increased independence…”

eHealth is an integrated part of the healthcare sector in Sweden.  The regions invest around $1.22 billion annually in healthcare IT.  All regions have integrated electronic health record solutions (EHRs) and e-prescriptions are very popular (99 percent of all Swedish prescriptions are issued electronically).  There are many non-domestic software and EHR companies in the hospital and primary care markets, including U.S companies such as Cerner, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Amazon Web Services.

Digital healthcare services, where patients can consult with health care professionals online (via mobile applications), have grown rapidly in the last few years, dominated by local companies such as Kry, Min Doktor, Doktor 24 and Doktor.se, but also with solutions developed by the regional governments, such as Region Stockholm’s “Alltid Oppet.”

The Covid-19 pandemic further accelerated the growth of digital health services in Sweden.  According to The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, the number of digital health care consultations doubled in 2020, from 1.2 million to 2.4 million, representing 11 percent of total medical appointments in 2020.

Leading Sub-Sectors

• Telemedicine/health
• mHealth (wearables, apps)
• Interoperability solutions and standards
• Artificial intelligence (AI)

Opportunities

See leading Sub-sectors.

Resources

Public tenders above contract values of $70,000 are published in the EU database TED.

Public tenders for healthcare services are published at Valfrihetswebben.

Government agencies, regulators and trade associations:

• Inera (www.inera.se)
• National Agency for Public Procurement 
• National Board of Health and Welfare (www.socialstyrelsen.se)
• Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (www.skr.se)
• Swedish eHealth Authority (www.ehalsomyndigheten.se)
• Swedish Medtech (www.swedishmedtech.se)
• Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
• H2 Health Hub (co-working space and meeting place for health tech companies, www.h2healthhub.com/about)

Trade Events

Public Sector Innovations – eHealth, January 25–26, 2023, Stockholm, Sweden  

Vitalis, May 23-25, 2023, Gothenburg, Sweden

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, (HIMSS), April 17-21, 2023, Chicago, USA. Every year a Swedish delegation with participants from regions, municipalities, government agencies and industry, take part in HIMSS for knowledge exchange, seminars and other activities.

Local Commercial Specialist: Johan Bjorkman, Johan.Bjorkman@trade.gov