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Three Swedish university hospitals are developing their practical AI capabilities in collaboration with Canada

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Karolinska University Hospital, Skåne University Hospital and Sahlgrenska University Hospital are collaborating with Canadian healthcare provider Unity Health Toronto in a new project to strengthen their AI expertise. 

In the project, which is being carried out with Region Skåne and led by AI Sweden, the participants will gather around a number of work packages for both organizational and technical issues.

A year ago, a letter of intent was signed between AI Sweden and Unity Health Toronto. The goal was to promote the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare through collaboration between Sweden and Canada. The project with the three Swedish participants is the first concrete result.

"By collaborating with the hospitals in the world that are furthest along, not only in the development of AI but also in implementing their own developed AI, we can learn and increase our own capabilities," says Magnus Kjellberg, head of the Center of Excellence for AI at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

Magnus Kjellberg

Magnus Kjellberg 
Head of the Center of Excellence for AI at Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhus, Gothenburg

Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Photographer: Marie Ullnert

Stefan Jovinge, President of Research, Education, Development and Innovation at Skåne University Hospital, holds similar expectations on the project:

“The early digitisation of health data and digitalisation of the healthcare in Sweden makes us a good partner for the healthcare systems in North America that have developed AI in healthcare solutions the furthest. Their experiences are tremendously important for us and both parties' different strengths form a strong foundation for a fruitful collaboration," he says.

Stefan Jovinge

Stefan Jovinge
President of Research, Education, Development and Innovation at Skåne University Hospital

Exterior, the emergency entrance, Skånes Universitetssjukhus, Malmö

Skåne University Hospital, emergency room in Malmö, Sweden.
Photographer: Emil Langvad

With funding from Vinnova for one year, the participants will gather around three work packages for both organizational and technical issues. One area of focus will be around developing the leadership and strategy to advance AI innovation. Another area of focus will be the creation of a collaboration platform for data scientists—where employees at the four hospitals will have the opportunity to learn from each other, including through an international hackathon. Finally, there is a work package to create an AI solution that will help predict when patients may miss their scheduled appointments:

"This is something that costs the Swedish regions at least hundreds of millions of kronor a year, and we believe that this is an area where artificial intelligence can predict which patients are at risk of not showing up and thus help healthcare utilize capacity better so that more people get faster access to care. It is also particularly suitable as an area of application for an initiative like this," says Lorna Bartram, Transformation Strategist - Healthcare at AI Sweden, and continues:

Lorna Bartram

Lorna Bartram
Transformation Strategist - Healthcare at AI Sweden

"Since it does not directly concern clinical work, but rather healthcare administration, it becomes easier to implement. It also becomes a good first area to test how to practically collaborate between healthcare providers in Sweden and internationally—by exchanging, for example, code and different methods with each other."

Johan Åhlen, chief data & analytics officer at Region Skåne, sees a clear link to the regional AI strategy that the regional council adopted in mid-October 2024:

"Our strategy highlights partnership and collaboration as an important part. It is particularly valuable for us to be able to collaborate with an international partner like Unity Health with all their AI experience. We naturally hope to come up with a useful AI solution that we can use in our operations, but an equally important part is learning and the exchange of experiences," he says.

Johan Åhlén

Johan Åhlén
Chief data & analytics officer at Region Skåne

Espen Sigvartsen, unit manager of data storage and application development at Karolinska University Hospital, makes a similar argument: 

"At the management and strategy level, we need a clearer AI strategy and a better understanding of how AI can improve the quality of care and support strategic goals. By learning from each other both at this and a more technical level, we hope to more quickly create AI solutions that improve patients' experiences and the work environment for our employees," he says.

Espen Sigvartsen

Espen Sigvartsen
Unit manager of data storage and application development at Karolinska University Hospital

Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset sign outside the hospital in Stockholm

Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden.
Photographer: Carin Tellström
 

Juulia Suvilehto is staff data scientist at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and one of those who will participate in the more technically oriented parts of the project:

"For us data scientists, this work is important because it will create a platform for knowledge sharing between hospitals. In addition, we will all get to learn from what is being done at internationally leading hospitals in the field. This means that we can accelerate the introduction of data science at more Swedish hospitals and thereby strengthen our ability to deliver better care to more people," she says.

Juulia Suvilehto

Juulia Suvilehto
Staff data scientist at Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Michael Page is the director of AI Commercialization at Unity Health Toronto, a healthcare network and research institute with 50+ AI tools developed and tested to enhance operational decision-making, reduce wait times, customize treatments, improve health outcomes and save lives. He highlights the need for international collaborations to move the use of AI in healthcare forward.

Michael Page

Michael Page
Director of AI Commercialization at Unity Health Toronto

“Working together in a way that prioritizes open science aligns with our mission to drive meaningful change and deliver the greatest possible benefits to healthcare worldwide. By embracing new ways of working together—across silos, countries, and institutions—we can demonstrate what’s achievable when we unite in the shared pursuit of advancing digital health and helping one another,” he says and continues:

“The boldest outcome of this collaboration would be the creation of a global model for digital health innovation. Such a model would showcase how international partnerships can accelerate the co-development of groundbreaking technologies, establish new benchmarks for open science and interoperability, and implement solutions that have a real impact for patient outcomes worldwide.”

Blurred images of hospital staff wearing blue and green scrubs, rushing in the corridor

Staff pictured during a busy day in the St. Michael’s Hospital Emergency Department, Unity Health Toronto
Photographer: Eduardo Lima

About Information-driven healthcare

Information-driven healthcare is a five-year strategic initiative funded by Vinnova (Sweden's innovation agency). AI Sweden leads and coordinates the initiative, which brings together several regions and universities with the goal of accelerating information-driven healthcare through the application of AI.

Close-up of holding hands, hospital setting
 

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