Exploring Medical Information Needs and Accessibility in Swedish Dental Care by Analysis of Documentation Workflows and Electronic Dental Records in Dalarna: Sociotechnical Qualitative Study

TL;DR

This study explores how dental care in Dalarna, Sweden, can better access patients' medical information to improve treatment safety and effectiveness.

Contribution

The study proposes integrating electronic dental records with national health data to improve information accessibility in dental care.

Findings

Dental practitioners need access to medical conditions, medications, treatment history, and lab values.

Current documentation workflows and EDR systems in Dalarna face significant limitations.

Interoperability between EDR systems and national health data could streamline workflows and improve care.

Abstract

Despite growing evidence demonstrating the connection between oral and systemic health, medical and dental care remain institutionally divided. A significant consequence of this division is the lack of information sharing, which is particularly problematic in dental care, where knowing patients’ medical information is crucial for providing safe and effective treatments. This separation poses additional challenges in Swedish regions with limited resources, such as Dalarna, where dental care practices would benefit from improved access to relevant medical information in their electronic dental record (EDR) systems.

This study aimed to explore how current documentation workflows and EDR systems support the medical information needs within dental care practices in Dalarna and consider what influence direct access to medical information could have.

The study adopted an exploratory-descriptive qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with dental practitioners working in general dental practices. Data collection followed a sociotechnical framework, and thematic analysis was performed to identify key medical information needs, as well as current workflow and system limitations. Conceptual models were developed to reflect these findings.

Eighteen dental practitioners were interviewed. The identified medical information needs included specific types of medical conditions, pharmacological information, treatment history, and laboratory values. Furthermore, dental practitioners highlighted substantial challenges in existing documentation workflows and the EDR system. Proposed conceptual models demonstrated how integrating EDR systems with the Swedish National Patient Overview (“Nationell Patientöversikt”) via National Service Platform (“Nationell Tjänsteplattform”) could streamline workflows and enhance information accessibility.

The findings show a clear need to improve medical information accessibility in dental care. A solution is to facilitate interoperability and align digital infrastructure with the identified needs. The proposed recommendations offer a feasible starting point for improving medical information access in Swedish dental care, particularly in resource-constrained regions like Dalarna.

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