«Speed, speed, speed» – but also clarity

State Secretary Ellen Rønning-Arnesen opened the day with three words that set the tone for the forum: “Speed, speed, speed.” The words came directly from Minister of Health and Care Services Jan Christian Vestre, who at the same time had to prioritise a press conference on health preparedness. Norway must increase the pace of scaling digital health technology. The healthcare services of the future will be even more dependent on technology than today – that much is clear. The key is no longer in developing solutions, but in the speed of implementation. And this is where we are falling behind.

Rønning-Arnesen pointed to artificial intelligence as a clear example of how quickly progress can be made. In the latest commissioning letter to the health trusts, there was a clear directive to scale speech-to-summary solutions. Just a few months later, these solutions have been rolled out across large parts of the specialist healthcare system. At the same time, it is crucial that the adoption of enabling technologies in Norwegian healthcare takes place within safe and structured frameworks, where public and private stakeholders come together to align on needs and requirements.

The panel discussion brought forward valuable cross-disciplinary input for the state secretary. From left: Beate Sørslett (Nordland Hospital Trust), Kristine Skjøthaug (Stavanger municipality), Claes Watndal (Diffia), and Ellen Rønning-Arnesen (State Secretary, Ministry of Health and Care Services).

Speed is not just about pace – it is also about building foundations

In the panel discussion that followed, moderated by the cluster’s new CEO Sveinung Tornås, the panellists added nuance to the theme of the day. Kristine Skjøthaug, Head of eHealth and welfare technology in Stavanger municipality, challenged the understanding of what speed actually means in practice. Too often, the focus is on measuring output rather than building the foundation that is truly needed.

– Spending time building for scaling should also count – not just the rollout itself, said Skjøthaug from the stage.

Beate Sørslett, Deputy CEO at Nordland Hospital Trust, highlighted the challenge of collaboration: how do we work effectively across different levels of the healthcare system? It is not enough to shift responsibilities to municipalities and assume the problem is solved.

– Norwegian health technology is alarmingly dependent on individual champions to scale. That is not sustainable, said Claes Watndal, CEO of Diffia, when he took the floor. He added that framework conditions must improve – and where benefits are realised, there must also be room for making the necessary investments.

The State Secretary further challenged the panel on why solutions with documented impact are still not being adopted.

– The commissioning letters from the Ministry of Health and Care Services must become even clearer, and that is a tool the ministry itself controls, Watndal responded. Skjøthaug proposed larger framework agreements that municipalities can call off from – to ensure price predictability and sufficient volume, so that effective solutions are not limited to a few.

There was also strong engagement from the audience. Endre Valdersnes from ATEA pointed out that with 365 municipalities in Norway, speed alone is not enough – clarity is also needed. Clear expectations for municipalities to scale solutions are essential to ensure that digitalisation reaches the entire country, not only where individual champions happen to be.

Group work to develop concrete input for the Healthcare Reform Commission.

Group work and input to the Healthcare Reform Commission

Following the panel discussion, participants moved into a roundtable working session, where lively discussions took place across the groups. Participants worked on concrete proposals for solutions and measures, based on ongoing reform efforts, including assessments of advantages, disadvantages and key prerequisites. Wenche P. Dehli from the secretariat of the Healthcare Reform Commission was present to take the input forward into the ongoing reform process.

The National Executive Leadership Forum is organised twice a year by Norway Health Tech and brings together key leaders across sectors in a shared arena for knowledge sharing, exchange of experiences and networking. The next forum will take place this autumn – and the discussion on what it truly takes to increase the pace will likely continue until then.

The team at Norway Health Tech is already looking forward to organising the next Executive Leadership Forum this autumn.

Contact Kari Anne for questions on how to engage.