Examples of digital health solutions

The Danish Health Data Authority develops digital solutions for the Danish healthcare sector.

Danish healthcare is one of the most digitalised healthcare services in the world, and we continually strive to develop better digital solutions for the citizens. The Danish Health Data Authority works to provide better healthcare data and better digital solutions on a national level by collecting and compiling data and using this to inform digital solutions that aid both patients and healthcare professionals.

We translate policy objectives within healthcare into digital solutions for national IT infrastructure that promote a healthier Denmark. These solutions are developed in meaningful and productive cooperation with a number of Danish public and private organisations within the fields of health and IT, including clinical professionals who provide important insights into how these technologies will later be implemented in practice. 

The National Service Platform is the infrastructure that enables the use of national registers and services directly in patient care. The platform ensures high availability and operational stability. Via the National Service Platform, healthcare professionals have access to a number of national registers such as the Danish Civil Registration System and the Authorization Register as well as national services such as the Shared Medication Record and Report of Birth.

The Shared Medication Record provides access to information on the citizen’s medication for both citizens and health professionals. Health professionals who are treating the citizen, have easy access to updated medicine information via the Shared Medication Record and may also register and change information. Citizens are able to look up information about their current and previous prescriptions as well as order renewal of their prescriptions.

Read about the history of the Shared Medication Record

The Danish Health Data Authority has developed the digital solution enabling citizens over the age of 60 to opt out of resuscitation attempts.

The digital solution includes:

  • A central register - Citizens’ opt-out decisions are recorded centrally to ensure automatic implementation and removal if withdrawn.
  • Citizen interface on sundhed.dk – Citizens can register their opt-out online or by submitting a paper form to the Danish Health Data Authority.
  • Integration with clinical systems – Registered decisions are digitally accessible to authorised healthcare professionals, including emergency call centres, paramedics, emergency doctors, hospital staff, municipal healthcare staff and GPs.

The Diagnosis Overview gives citizens, their relatives and healthcare professionals an overview of a citizen’s diagnoses. The GP, in dialogue with the citizen, selects which diagnoses are shown and is responsible for maintaining the overview.

Diagnoses may be made by the GP or received from hospitals or specialists and entered into the GP’s system. The GP then decides whether or not they should appear in the Diagnosis Overview.

The solution distinguishes between:

  • Current diagnoses – conditions the citizen has been diagnosed with and is receiving treatment for, including chronic or time-limited illnesses.
  • Relevant diagnoses – conditions the citizen is not currently being treated for, but which may still be important for healthcare professionals to know.

A Care Plan is a digital plan prepared in general practice for citizens with diabetes, COPD or heart disease. The solution makes these plans accessible to municipalities, regions and the citizen.

The plans support citizen involvement and make it easier to coordinate treatment. They provide an overview of key health indicators relevant to monitoring and care.

Each plan may include test results, treatment goals, diagnoses and named contacts, based on recommendations from the Danish Health Authority and the Danish College of General Practitioners.

The Health Appointment Overview allows patients and relatives to view appointments with the GP, hospital or municipal care via the official web portal for the public Danish healthcare system, sundhed.dk. Healthcare professionals have access to the same information via their own electronic health record system. This enables the health professionals to better coordinate and plan the treatment and care of their patients.

The Shared Personal Information allows the patient’s personal information to be shared across different sectors in the healthcare system. It also means that changes in the patient’s personal information will no longer have to be corrected in many different systems. The same information can be viewed and corrected by healthcare professionals at both GP’s, in hospitals and in the municipal healthcare. It also allows patients to enter information about for instance phone number, closest relatives, preferred language or temporary address via the official web portal for the public Danish healthcare system, sundhed.dk.

A new digital solution will replace the paper-based pregnancy journal that pregnant women have had to carry with them to appointments with different health professionals such as their GP, midwife or sonographer. Healthcare professionals will have access to all information about the pregnancy via a website or their own electronic health record system, while an app functions as the platform for information for the pregnant women, such as pregnancy data, test results, appointments and articles about pregnancy and health.

The Hearing Folder is a digital solution that gathers data and makes it available to both patients and the different healthcare professionals involved in treatment of hearing loss. The aim is for the healthcare professionals to be able to provide better treatment and follow-up care for citizens with hearing aids and for citizens to gain better insight into and mastery of own hearing loss through access to data on their own hearing loss.

PRO is an abbreviation of patient-reported outcome data. It is the patient's systematic response to questionnaires about their health status.

Read more about patient-reported outcome i The Danish Health Data Authority