Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner

Redpill Linpro has successfully delivered a solution in which we have been able to demonstrate that, by building flexible applications based on APIs with agile teams, we have been able to provide SKR witha solution that has enabled SKR to take over responsibility for survey management and quality monitoring within the Swedish healthcare system.

The solution streamlines both data collection and the reporting of results, thereby increasing the value of the surveys and simplifying the dissemination of the findings. Through Redpill Linpro’s delivery of a shared support structure and the National Patient Survey, based on APIs, open source and agile teams, SKR has increased control, impact and quality through digitised patient surveys.

With the development of the National Patient Survey (NPE) and a Joint Support Structure (GSS) for monitoring the quality of Swedish healthcare, SKR has gained a digital tool for effective healthcare monitoring. 
The solution enables SKR to manage the collection, analysis and publication of data digitally. In this way, SKR has been able to reduce the costs of healthcare monitoring, whilst at the same time enabling broader data collection, resulting in higher-quality analysis and faster publication of the information.

When SKR decided to take over responsibility for the survey-based monitoring of quality in the Swedish healthcare system, the primary reasons were to increase oversight, reduce costs and streamline the process in order to be able to expand the scheme with new measurement points. Through an agile approach, the digitisation of survey management and a platform based on open source, this has been achieved whilst simultaneously expanding the service to county councils/regions, the general public, the press, researchers and others who make use of this information.

When the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR), through its executive board, decided at the end of 2014 to take over responsibility for conducting patient surveys within the Swedish healthcare system under its own management,&a comprehensive project was launched at the same time to create a modern digital platform for the future monitoring of quality in our healthcare system. Through a funding model in which all county councils contributed to financing the development and management of both the technical solution and the design of the future structure for conducting quality surveys, the decision was endorsed across all of Sweden’s regions.

A new internal project organisation was set up to implement the project, and the task of developing the technical aspects of the solution was awarded to Redpill Linpro, which, through its long-standing collaboration with SKR on the development of the national waiting time database, has demonstrated both technical expertise and an understanding of SKR’s type of operations. SKR’s project team, together with Redpill Linpro, established an agile working method based on Redpill Linpro’s methodology for development in agile teams.

Through an agile approach, SKR’s project team, together with Redpill Linpro’s agile development team, has continuously developed specifications and functionality as these were discussed with county councils and partners (survey companies).

As the old survey management solution was perceived as complicated and costly, involving manual mailings and the collation of survey responses, SKR’s project team wanted to find a new and more modern approach to survey management. By digitising all survey questions and responses, it is possible to flexibly compile new surveys on behalf of the various regions and reuse work carried out by the research companies with which they collaborate. Digital distribution and collection of responses have also made it possible to streamline data collection and the carrying out of analyses.

Through the development of smart APIs, data or graphs can also be shared or made available within the county councils or on websites such as "Healthcare in Figures ". Using simple ‘code snippets’, data (retrieved directly from SKR’s application) can be made available on the region’s own web or intranet pages, without affecting the overall structure of the page or requiring any adaptation. In this way, it is easy to share the information contained in the application without the need for complex integration projects or programme modifications.

By taking a digital approach to the challenge and using smart APIs, SKR can derive greater value from the data it collects by making it easy to share, report on and compare.

Through this project, Redpill Linpro has delivered a comprehensive solution to SKR via our agile team concept. SKR’s project team has only needed to focus on specifying the necessary functionality and driving business development in collaboration with county councils and healthcare regions. The solution has been developed using open-source software and modern technology such as WildFly, High Charts, MongoDB, Django CMS, JEE, MuleESB, Keycloak, AngularJS/JavaScript and others.

By basing the solution on open-source software, SKR has not only gained access to the latest platforms and modern technology, but also flexibility in terms of the costs associated with support and management of the solution. With Redpill Linpro’s concept for delivery in agile teams, not only has the initial development of the applications been carried out in an agile manner, but so too have the management and further development.

Through an agile approach, SKR’s product owners have been able to steer and reprioritise development effectively as and when required. In this way, the development project does not get bogged down in work that must be completed for delivery, and through prototype-based specification work, SKR’s project team and users feel they have control over the development throughout the entire process.

Through its established concept for agile teams, with expertise in various fields, Redpill Linpro has provided SKR withthe framework and reassurance necessary for them to focus on project outcomes and business impact, rather than simply managing an IT development project.

“With NPE and GSS, we have been able to improve the quality of our data collection, enhance our analyses and, at the same time, streamline the publication of results at a lower cost than before. 
Through this solution, SKR also taken control of our quality monitoring of the Swedish healthcare system and can efficiently provide valuable data back to the county councils and openly publish the results of the surveys to the public, the press, analysts and others with an interest in the information. “In developing NPE and GSS, we have worked closely with Redpill Linpro’s agile team and ensured that the solution is built using an API-first approach as a basis to enable efficient future information exchanges”, says Martin Midböe, Project Manager for NPE at SKR.