The business sector’s place in health policy
Public health services provide security in everyday life, and the Government’s goal is to create a health-promoting society by ensuring:
- sustainable and equitable use of resources
- good health and coping skills in the population, regardless of social background
- good patient pathways and rapid access to services throughout Norway
- a sector that is prepared in the face of crises and disasters
- a sector that is an attractive place to work in a lifelong career
The business sector plays an important role in the work of realising these goals. New technological solutions can help elderly and people with illness to live longer at home, and it can contribute to solutions that require less personnel. This will alleviate the burden on the health and care services. Important contributions from the business sector can include technology and solutions that take into account different health literacy levels in population groups and that promote a healthier lifestyle or insight into own health. The health industry has a role in developing solutions in diagnostics, treatment and prevention of disease and ailment.
The Government’s health policy is and will be presented in several reports, strategies and studies in 2023 and 2024, and highlights the business sector as an important contributor to our common health service.
Report No 15 to the Storting (2022–2023) Folkehelsemeldinga – nasjonal strategi for utjamning av sosialehelseforskjeller (Public Health Report (White Paper) – National Strategy for reducing social inequalities in health’ – in Norwegian only) emphasises that preventive and health-promoting work must take place in all areas of society, including in and in collaboration with the business sector.
A new National plan for the health and care services (White Paper) will be presented in 2023. The plan will address the framework for the further development of both the municipal health and care services and the specialist health services in addition to the interaction between them. Key goals include good patient pathways and good services throughout Norway.
A lack of healthcare professionals is a challenge for health systems in the vast majority of comparable countries. The Health Personnel Commission’s report Tid for handling (‘Time for action’ – in Norwegian only) (Norwegian Official Report (NOU) 2023:4) points, among other things, to the need for innovations that reduce the need for personnel throughout the health and care services. Solutions that can contribute to changes in the organisation and division of responsibilities and free up time for healthcare professionals can reach a large market, including internationally. Among other things, the work will be followed up in the National Health and Interaction Plan.
The role of municipalities and county authorities
As independent, elected and self-governing bodies with a great responsibility for safe and satisfactory health and care services, the role of municipalities and county authorities must be emphasised. They are tasked with providing services under the Health and Care Services Act. Municipalities are free to decide how they carry out their procurements within the framework of the procurement regulations, and whether they want to participate in innovation projects based on local conditions and needs. This also applies to municipalities’ responsibilities in the health and care sector. The business sector must approach the municipalities directly to discuss possible cooperation. Prior to this, the business partners should familiarise themselves well with the Norwegian health system and build up a good understanding of the municipalities’ role, schemes, etc.
The HealthCare21 Advisory Board has prepared a report on the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities’ strategic research agency (KSF). KSF will be a collaboration and funding model that helps create a structure for a systematic knowledge boost and innovation in municipal services.
NOU 2023: 9 Generalistkommunesystemet (‘The system of general competence municipalities’ – in Norwegian only) confirms that health and care services are among the most important tasks the municipalities are responsible for, with over a third of their total resources being used in this particular area. The committee of examining and analyzing the system og general competence municipalities has mapped out how they fulfil their tasks, mainly by looking at legal compliance, including within welfare services. The committee found that small rural municipalities have a lower degree of legal compliance than larger municipalities, mainly due to a lack of capacity and expertise.
White Paper No 24 to the Storting (2022–2023) Fellesskapogmeistring – Bu trygtheime (‘Community and mastery – Living safely at home’ – in Norwegian only) was presented on 16 June this year. The proportion of older people will increase in the future. This development will have a big impact on society and requires a new and sustainable policy. Increased demand for age-friendly solutions, both from the health and care services and from consumers, represents market opportunities for the business sector.
In addition, a White Paper on health preparedness will be published in 2023. This will provide direction on how Norway should be prepared to protect the lives and health of the population in crises and disasters.
In 2024, the Government will present a new priority setting White Paper. Among other things, this will assess personalised medicine and ensure transparency and verifiability in relation to priorities in the health service.
Nasjonal strategi for persontilpassetmedisin (2023–2030) (‘The National Strategy for Personalised Medicine 2023–2030’ – in Norwegian only) presents the Government’s vision of personalised medicine as an integral part of prevention, diagnostics, treatment and follow-up in the health service, with the goal of improving health and coping throughout life. The business sector plays an important role in achieving the goals of the strategy as a supplier and development partner. Several health industry stakeholders have personalised medicine as a focus area that can increase value creation. Good models have been developed for public-private cooperation in the field.
In the autumn of 2021, the Directorate of eHealth submitted the report Samarbeid med næringslivetpå e-helseområdet (‘Cooperation with the business sector in the field of eHealth’ – in Norwegian only), with recommendations on the use of research, innovation and business development to strengthen implementation capacity. The report proposes several measures for better cooperation between the public and private sectors in the area of ehealth. A plan has been prepared to strengthen cooperation between industry clusters, the municipal sector and the specialist health service, where one of the measures is regular contact meetings with select industry organisations and associations.
The HealthCare21 Advisory Board facilitates better coordination through dialogue, cooperation and forums across the public, private and voluntary sectors. Appointed by the Ministry of Health and Care Services (abbreviated HOD) in collaboration with relevant ministries, the Advisory Board is the only permanent national arena where representatives from health trusts, the higher education sector, user organisations, the health industry and the municipal sector meet. In the follow-up to the White Paper on the Health Industry, it aims to contribute to good public health, efficient and high-quality health and care services, value creation and business development.