“Once upon a time, in a small kingdom towards the north, something new was underway. The small project organisation “Danish Centre for Health Telematics” (later just known as MedCom) was established on May 16, 1994. It was given a very important job by the monarch: to connect the health sector electronically.”
This could have been the catchy beginning of the short story you are about to read. Yet what happened 30 years ago in Denmark is not a fairytale. Rather, it was the result of joined-up national efforts, built on local initiatives and innovation in digitalisation of the health sector, and the hard work of pioneers in the field of health IT.
This is certainly a year of celebrations: along with MedCom's 30th Anniversary, in 2024 EHTEL will also mark its 25 years of existence, culminating in its annual Symposium: 25th Anniversary.
MedCom’s roots
In 1994, MedCom was tasked – within 2 years – to undertake a major job. It was to develop and test national EDIFACT-communication standards for the most common messages used between general practitioners and the rest of the health sector. Examples included discharge letters, laboratory results, and prescriptions. It was also to establish a Danish Health Data Network (SDN).
The organisation was set up in Odense – where it still is – in the middle of Denmark. The symbolism of this location has two parts: it is due to MedCom’s national implementation role, and because Odense is coincidentally the same city where Danish fairytale writer, Hans Christian Andersen, was born and lived for most of his life.
What MedCom does
Since 1994, many other standards and new formats have been added to MedCom’s list of achievements. Every month, the exchange of information and messages based on MedCom’s standards amounts to close to 7.5 million. The Danish Health Data Network is still operational but has been modernised to meet changed organisational and clinical needs and technical opportunities.
MedCom now runs large Danish national implementation projects, and it is System Manager for three joint public health infrastructures. Today, the number of staff has grown from the original two to 49 people. Even more staff are to come, in the future.
Read more about MedCom’s vision and work: see the Spotlight of MedCom's work produced for EHTEL.
International collaboration has always had a special role in MedCom. The year after MedCom was established, it already joined its first European project – CoCo. Since then, MedCom has been part of many more EU-funded projects and has kept a strong tie to European partners and networks, including EHTEL, of which it has been a member for 20+ years.
MedCom’s current international focus is in three fields. It works on standardisation and interoperability, especially on HL7® FHIR®; the European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format (EEHRxF) through its co-leadership of the xShare project; and the upcoming implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation.
What the future holds for MedCom
30 years of being part of the evolution witnessing the impact that health IT has had for so many health professionals and patients is a huge privilege. Both nationally and internationally, more change and more opportunities await in the coming years. Luckily, 30 years is still young.
Today, MedCom has several important tasks on its plate. It has just started to modernise the standardisation approach in Denmark to accommodate not only technical possibilities but also organisational and business drivers. These standards will be used in more complex care and treatment settings, with multiple actors, and with more patient involvement and control. The organisation is building a new data exchange infrastructure. MedCom also expects the EHDS Regulation to set a direction for its work. With all these challenges, the next 30 years will go by equally fast!