Recently, the hospital in Kalnes in Sarpsborg was ranked sixth out of seven by Himss, an organization that evaluates and rates hospital clinical ICT systems in Europe.

Only five hospitals in Europe are placed at level seven, while Sykehuset Østfold is the only Nordic hospital placed at level seven. exclusive “club 6 & 7”..

– Østfold Hospital is an impressive hospital that has fully understood the role of technology in modernizing traditional workflows and clinical processes, wrote regional director John Rayner at Himss to NRK.

The assessment of the hospital aroused interest far beyond Norway.

– We get a lot of attention and a busy visitor program. There are many visits every week. It’s great that they show interest in our way of thinking, hospital director Just Ebbesen told NRK.

Time consuming and burdensome

Among the visitors were a large group of architects, user organizations and international hospital builders.

Sykehuset Innlandet, who was to build a new and large hospital for Hedmark and Oppland in Mjøsbrua, also visited Østfold to learn and gain inspiration.

The last visit occurred in early December. Then the Swiss hospital developer landed by private plane at Rygge air station.

Interest in visits was so great that hospitals had to employ their own visitor managers.

But now it has stopped.

– We are now entering a demanding phase and we must stop it. This takes too long and can be burdensome for clinics that have groups visiting every day, Ebbesen said.

Recognized

Due to its opening in November 2015, the hospital costing more than six billion people was described as the most modern in the Nordic region.

Most hospital operations are based on new technology and everything from janitors, porters and clinics are taking part in the same technology platform.

John Rayner regional director at Himss, who wrote the report on the hospital, answered questions from NRK, some of the reasons why the hospital is at level six.

• Excellent governance arrangements, strong clinical commitment and real leadership from senior management.
• The hospital is moving towards going paperless with the help of efficient computer systems.
• The organization is data-driven and disseminates information through a series of electronic dashboards, improving performance and simultaneously providing information and education to many employees.
• Hospitals have established robust disaster plans to be able to maintain operations even if systems fail.

Additionally, the emergency department, medication administration, and unmanned automated robot trains transporting equipment were also highlighted.

– It’s really funny that the hard work done by our employees has resulted in us now being awarded the title of the most modern hospital in terms of the use of technology and ICT. This is a recognition that the way we use new technology is at a very high level, Ebbesen said.