Why today’s EHR systems are no longer enough
The purpose of the medical record has long been the same: to document care, ensure continuity and support communication around the patient. When healthcare went digital, much of the process moved from paper to screens, but the same underlying logic often remained. Information was stored digitally, but continued to be divided across separate systems, modules and databases.
This is a reality that many people in Swedish healthcare recognise. Clinical information is spread across several different systems. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals need to open multiple views to gain a coherent picture of the patient. For patients with long medical histories, chronic conditions or numerous healthcare contacts, this becomes particularly evident: what should be simple takes time.
This is clearly a usability issue, but it also affects workflows, coordination, patient safety and the amount of time left for the patient encounter.
New data sources place new demands on healthcare information systems
At the same time, the healthcare information landscape is changing rapidly. Remote monitoring, medical devices, virtual care, AI-generated analyses and, not least, patients’ own information environments through services such as 1177, web searches and AI searches are becoming an increasingly important part of everyday reality.
This means that the EHR systems of the future must be able to handle more data sources than before. But more data, in itself, does not create better healthcare. Value is created only when information is understandable, structured, traceable and usable in a clinical context.
For regions planning the next generation of healthcare information systems, questions of structure and interoperability are therefore central. How can information be shared, understood and used over time, across organisations and together with new capabilities that have not yet been implemented?
Open standards and incremental modernisation are the way forward
In our presentation, we highlighted the need to move from closed, monolithic EHR systems to open and flexible healthcare information systems. This means that data is not locked into a single application, but can be managed on a shared platform based on open standards.
When data is separated from applications, it becomes possible to use the same information foundation across multiple workflows, add new functionality and introduce new data sources incrementally. This creates better conditions for long-term development and reduces dependence on large-scale implementations carried out all at once.
For Swedish regions, this is an important consideration when procuring new systems. A traditional all-in-one system may seem simple to purchase, but often becomes difficult to adapt as the organisation changes. An incremental approach provides greater freedom of action and reduces the risk of building in new limitations from the outset.
Better overview in everyday clinical work
At Vitalis, we also demonstrated what this means in practice. When data from different sources is collected and harmonised, information can be presented in a completely different way from traditional medical record views.
For patients with chronic conditions, longitudinal timelines can provide clearer support for clinical work. They make it possible to follow medications, vital signs, test results, lifestyle data and clinical events within the same context. This provides a better overview and enables a faster understanding of the patient’s trajectory.
Less vendor lock-in and better conditions for interoperability
Another crucial issue for the regions is vendor independence. When data is stored in an open and semantically interoperable structure, it becomes easier to avoid lock-in. This applies both to the platform and to the applications built on top of it.
This means that investments in information, structures and ways of working are easier to protect, even when needs change or new suppliers are introduced. For regions seeking to build for the long term, this is an important part of a sustainable healthcare IT landscape.
We also highlighted that developments in Europe are moving towards greater requirements for common standards, semantics and interoperability. The architecture must not only address today’s needs, but also remain relevant in a future where information exchange, health data and AI support become an increasingly important part of healthcare.
Proven in Finland and established in Sweden
For Tieto Caretech, this is not merely a vision of the future. Our solution is based on experience from Finland, where the system has been proven at scale and is used in regions where healthcare is delivered in both Finnish and Swedish. We are also already present at a Swedish university hospital.
This is relevant for Swedish regions looking for EHR and healthcare information systems that have been proven to work in real-world operations, in complex healthcare environments and over time.
Strong interest following the presentation at Vitalis
One clear signal following the presentation was the high level of engagement in the discussion that followed. Many questions were raised about standards, interoperability, the migration of historical data and vendor independence.
The interest in these issues is clearly significant. The focus is shifting away from simply choosing the next system and increasingly towards building the right foundation for the future.
The EHR systems of the future need to be built for change
The most important message from the Vitalis stage was simple: the future of healthcare will not be determined by who has the most data, but by who has the most understandable, structured and reliable data.
For healthcare professionals, this is about having more time for patients, a better overview and improved decision support in the right context. For the regions, it is about creating a sustainable digital foundation that can support both today’s requirements and tomorrow’s needs.
As EHR systems are now being procured or reviewed, it is therefore wise to look beyond individual applications and instead ask which information architecture will deliver the greatest long-term value. Our conviction is clear: the future lies in open, flexible healthcare information systems that can be developed incrementally.
