Smart Health Care

The measures in the “Smart Care” project make Bergen ready to meet the challenges of the future. In the future, the percentage of people in need of care and care services from the municipality will increase while expectations on quality and service levels increase. The percentage of people in the working age decreases, which means that tax revenues that finance the services provided by the municipality will not increase correspondingly to the need for services.

If the municipality is to maintain today's quality of care and care services, better utilization of the available money is required. At the same time, it must focus on services that provide citizens with help-to-self-help and prevent heavier needs. This contributes to better quality of life for citizens and lower costs for municipal services. The reduction in expenses can be used to ensure good services to those who need the help the most.

Bergen Municipality's commitment to smart care is an important step in preparing services for the future situation and ensuring a sustainable level of service. The focus on “Smart Care” has given the municipality more resources to modernize health and care services and make the necessary changes. By starting early, the services are also better equipped to employ technological work tools and welfare technologies for the residents. Bergen has thus become a more innovative and future-oriented municipality.

It is demanding to carry out many of the projects in “Smart Care”. On the one hand, the goal is to provide better services for residents and better working conditions for employees, and on the other hand, the municipality wants to reduce its expenses. This requires selection of measures that can satisfy these expectations.

An important part of “Smart Care” is that the program extracts some of the profits they generate in terms of money deducted from the budgets of the services that get more efficient operation. The money is used to fund the work in the “Smart Care” Program and to provide services to more residents or to introduce new services. Savings will also be important in the future to ensure the best possible health and care services in a new era with greater demand for services.

Photo: Nina Blågestad