Empowering patients to need less care and do better in Highland Hospital, South Sweden

Introduction

In 2001, the unit of gastroenterology in the Highland Hospital in Eksjoe (in the  South-Swedish Highland with 115,000 inhabitants) had long waiting lists - patients referred to the unit had to wait 2-3 months - and unprioritized scheduled revisits were done up to one year after the planned time. The unit looked carefully at the values behind its approach and came up with a set of innovative approaches to involve patients more intensively in their own care, both improving the treatment of patients and lowering the demand on beds in the unit. Moreover, there was a dramatic improvement in the health of the patients.