Meet our partner St.Olavs hospital

St. Olav’s hospital is one of Forhelse’s eMeistring-partners. They have extensive experience with digital health services and have this as one of their main focus areas.

We had a chat with the section manager in Nidaros DPS, Liv Sigrun Sættem Engvik, about their work and why they wanted to be part of Forhelse.

Read more about Senter for eTerapi here.

What was your motivation for joining the center?

Digitization is one of the main focus areas for St. Olav’s hospital. The goal is to develop and use digital health services where it is suited and provides value. Today’s technology has opened up a large opportunity for further development of our health services. Nidaros DPS at St. Olav’s hospital established Senter for eTerapi in collaboration with Helse Bergen in 2018. We want to develop our digital health services and think it is important to have collaboration across various health trusts in that regard. We see Forhelse, with the aim of increasing the use and effect of digital health services, as a good and important partner in this work.

What is your role/contribution to the work package you participate in?

Senter for eTerapi, which offers eMeistring for panic disorder, social phobia and depression, will contribute to work packages 2 and 4. The work packages will look at the extent to which guided internet treatment is cost-effective and experiences and strategies for implementation. There are key professionals associated with the Senter for eTerapi at Nidaros DPS who contribute with experience from the center, from implementation and figures from operations.

Read more about the work packages in Forhelse here.

Why is digitization important in the health sector?

The demand for treatment for mental health problems is increasing in the population and we are challenged to think differently. Technological developments have made it possible to communicate securely with patients in new ways. Digitization is important for developing better and more flexible healthcare services and for providing a more equal healthcare service to patients regardless of where they live. Digitization also increases the patient’s choice, with the opportunity to choose digital solutions if patients want this. Overall, this will increase the quality of the health service, improve resource utilization and increase patient satisfaction.

What do you want to achieve during the eight years the center will exist?

The issues related to cost-benefit and implementation are very relevant in relation to further development of the digital health service. We think that collaboration with the SFI will provide us with valuable information and expertise related to these areas. We want supervised internet treatment, eMeistring, to become a better known treatment-option in the population, and for more patients to be offered this treatment. We also see the opportunity to develop more treatment programs either in the form of guided internet treatment for several conditions or the development of digital tools to support ordinary treatment.