Monitoring and Benchmarking eHealth in the Nordic Countries

Abstract

The Nordic eHealth Research Network, a subgroup of the Nordic Council of Ministers eHealth group, is working on developing indicators to monitor progress in availability, use and outcome of eHealth applications in the Nordic countries. This paper reports on the consecutive analysis of National eHealth policies in the Nordic countries from 2012 to 2016. Furthermore, it discusses the consequences for the development of indicators that can measure changes in the eHealth envi-ronment arising from the policies. The main change in policies is reflected in a shift towards more stakeholder involvement and intensified focus on clinical in-frastructure. This change suggests developing indicators that can monitor under-standability and usability of eHealth systems, and the use and utility of shared in-formation infrastructure from the perspective of the end-users – citizens/patients and clinicians in particular.