Integration of Health Informatics in Nursing Curriculum Case Study

The primary healthcare sector in Denmark has used electronic documentation since the start of 1990. While basic records go back to 1977, a detailed history was made available for all patient contacts in 2000. Electronic patient records have been in use in Denmark since 2009 for documentation, and welfare technology, or technologies that increase the quality of life and/or efficiency of society, is widely used in the homecare sector.

Denmark has a centralized computer database to which 98% of primary care physicians, all hospital physicians and all pharmacists now have access. Danish residents can gain access to their own records through a secure website. The website alerts the patient by email if a doctor, pharmacist or nurse views their records, and allows patients to make appointments, set end-of-life wishes and even email their doctor for advice on illnesses that do not require an office visit. The healthcare sector in Denmark is highly digital and the acquisition of digital skills among the workforce and students is required.

As part of the Strategy for Digital Welfare, the Government and Kommunernes Landsforening (KL), or local governments, agreed to a nationwide dissemination of new welfare technologies during the 2014 National Financial Agreement. The objective of the agreement was to create quality gains for citizens and employees in their daily life and to save a minimum of 500 million in Danish Krone, roughly 677 million euros, within the municipalities by 2017. In connection with the dissemination of these technologies, KL was established as a program from 2014-2016 for the spread of welfare technology that has supported the municipalities in caring for their residents.

From 2014-2016, 88 municipalities have implemented the technologies laid out during the 2014 National Financial Agreement, which covers 95% of the population in the country. At the end of 2016, a final measurement focused on the implementation process and an analysis of the effects of implementation were presented and showed a range of quality gains for both citizens and employees. The data also showed improved economic potential for all municipalities.