Evaluating the impact of digitalization on the productivity and effectiveness of primary care in Sweden

The digitalization of primary care in the form of video and chat-based patient consultations is expected to lead to several advantages, including cost savings.

However, for such savings to be realized on a systems level, digital technologies for care need to either make care providers more productive or the care needs to be more effective in terms of clinical outcomes. There is to date no evidence that digitalization has affected either of these two factors.

In 2020, to limit the risk of infection, the Covid-19 pandemic forced all clinics to adopt digital care, even those clinics with lower initial levels of investment in digital technologies.

Utilizing this natural experiment situation, the purpose of the research project is to evaluate the impact of digitalization on care providers’ productivity and on the effectiveness of primary care in Sweden.

The project will analyze national, clinic-level data on primary care, including on type of care (digital/not digital), treatment, type of visit/contact, and clinic characteristics by means of statistical analysis with the aim of estimating a causal impact of digitalization on the identified outcomes.

The project will be implemented in 2022-2024 by researchers currently involved in the analysis of the effects of digital care in Sweden.

Understanding the true effect of digitalization on the provision of primary care at the system level is relevant for informed policy development and decision making on multiple levels.