We are very pleased that the 22nd International Conference on Integrated Care will take place in Odense, Denmark, from 23 – 25 May 2022.  The conference is a partnership with Healthcare Denmark in cooperation with Odense University Hospital, Municipality of Odense, Campus Odense and Inspiring Denmark. Denmark is among international frontrunners when it comes to integrated healthcare services.

A coherent and integrated healthcare system is key to solving the demographic challenges and reduce patient length of stay at hospitals. A high degree of coherence means that Denmark can address newly diagnosed cancers with clinical pathways, which connect hospitals, clinics, GPs and the patients. This has already led to remarkable progress in Danish cancer survival.

A coherent and integrated healthcare system with a high degree of digitalization enables real-time sharing of electronic data and makes it possible to initiate early diagnostics and address chronic diseases in new ways, where the patients are empowered and involved in handling their own disease.

Electronic communication and sharing of information enable municipalities, home care staff and the hospital to support elderly citizens to stay in their own homes as long as possible. As a result, the patients experience fewer admissions and shorter length of stays at hospital, and the risk of frailty, leading to long hospital admissions, is drastically reduced.