From Analog to Digital – Indre Østfold Municipality’s Journey in Welfare Technology

Since the municipality was already working with Tellu, it was a short step to explore what measures we could take to improve the solutions. In collaboration with Tietoevry Care, we examined how the established, manual procedures for handling personal safety alarms could be rewritten, and developed a solution that immediately yielded significant benefits in terms of safety and efficiency.

The municipality switched to digital safety alarms with robust monitoring. They implemented a new response center solution supported by the healthcare response center in Kristiansand and integrated the response center solution with the municipality’s medical records system, Gerica, which is provided by Tietoevry Care.

The Transition Process

The introduction of health technology solutions is a process that requires adaptation and training during the implementation phase, and it can be challenging to set aside established routines and learn to rely on a new digital solution.

In a conversation with Department Head Siw Anita Dramstad and Specialized Healthcare Worker Reidun Mo in Indre Østfold Municipality, we gained insight into the transition process and the valuable lessons they’ve learned along the way. At first, they were skeptical, but that skepticism quickly gave way to trust in the new systems and curiosity about their functionality once they saw that they could rely on them.

From the right behind the sofa: Benedicte S. Igletjern, Mari Bjerkli. On the sofa from the right: Grethe Monica Granli, (not pictured) Siw Anita Dramstad, Even Knapås, Reidun Mo, and Anita Ødegård, along with their dog Miko, who is always at the office and is part of the gang. Photo: Private

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Having access to as much information as digital technology provides is a huge advantage—it creates opportunities for cross-functional collaboration

Siw Anita DramstadDepartment Head in the Municipality of Indre Østfold

Today, the old procedures have been completely overhauled. Alerts from the response center in Kristiansand are now sent directly to the nurses’ mobile devices, ensuring that they receive accurate and complete information about who needs help, as well as critical data about the person in question. If alerts are not acknowledged immediately, they are followed up on right away by the Response Center.

The information is now available across departments, which makes collaboration much easier. This is especially helpful in Askim, which has three departments and relies entirely on a communication platform that provides insight into all users. It’s reassuring and comforting for the nurses to know that there will always be others who have access to the user lists should anything happen. Information that was often passed on verbally in the past is now logged in a digital medical record, which means fewer details are forgotten since they’re noted down while they’re still fresh in the memory.

Both emphasize that the collaboration between Indre Østfold Municipality and the vendors, Tellu and Tietoevry Care, has worked very well. Any questions have been answered quickly, and they have particularly appreciated the opportunity to provide direct feedback on improvements, so that together we can create the best solution. This kind of user involvement definitely contributes to streamlining operations and ensuring product quality.

Now that they trust the digital system, the municipality has begun exploring which other parts of its work processes can be digitized—ranging from using the response center to handle more than just safety alarms to more complex digital services such as safety cameras.

The municipality of Indre Østfold is a great example of how health technology can help improve and optimize the health services the municipality provides, and ensure a safer daily life for everyone involved.

Would you like to learn more about how welfare technology and digital solutions can contribute to safer and more efficient service delivery? Tietoevry Care and Tellu have collaborated to deliver solutions to several Norwegian municipalities and would be happy to assist you in your work with welfare technology.

Contact information:

Ine Finsrud – Key Account Manager – Tellu
ine.finsrud@tellu.no

Tom Freddy Braathen – Senior Sales Manager – Tietoevry Care
tom-freddy.braathen@tietoevry.com

Indre Østfold Municipality's Journey in Welfare Technology

The value definitely lies in the ability to follow up with users from start to finish!

The Transition Process

Having access to as much information as digital technology provides is a huge advantage—it creates opportunities for cross-functional collaboration

The value definitely lies in the ability to follow up with users from start to finish