“There is a general policy to promote the generic substitution of pharmaceuticals, and all regional authorities have implemented policies that monitor and influence the use of drugs in their health facilities. Efforts to reduce the general costs of drugs have not been particularly successful, in spite of some positive results in terms of drug pricing. Any potential savings have been more than counterbalanced by wider use of new and more expensive drugs and by changes in the treatment indications for hypertension, high cholesterol and so on. The most important efficiency drive has been a massive, and largely successful, effort to convert inpatient treatment to outpatient or ambulatory treatment, similar to trends in many other European countries.”

Source: Olejaz M, Juul Nielsen A, Rudkjøbing A, Okkels Birk H, Krasnik A, Hernández-Quevedo C. Denmark: Health System Review. Health Systems in Transition, 2012, 14(2):1 – 192.

“Knowledge about the Danish Vælg Klogt initiative was sparse both among PA [Patient Associations] and ScS [Scientific Socities]. Among the PA, 81% (13/16) reported that they had no or little knowledge. The corresponding figure was 72% (38/51) for the ScS. When asked, 25% of PA and 29% of the ScS answered that they believe that Vælg Klogt may contribute to a change in practice and thus contribute to reducing overuse. However, for the PA, the belief in a potential effect of VælgKlogt hinges on the recommendations from Vælg Klogt being included in national guidelines.

“‘It (the effect of Vælg Klogt) depends on whether it will form part of the national guidelines’ (PA 15)

“For the ScS, any effect will depend on what tests, treatments or procedures are chosen and how the implementation is organised.

‘Something like this has been tried many times before. Changing habits is a slow process’ (ScS 2)

“Furthermore, for both the ScS and the PA, the success of VælgKlogt depends on whether the healthcare system is able to reduce the fear of making mistakes or being blamed.

‘… because defensive medicine permeates the way we think and act nowadays’ (ScS 22)

“The PA and ScS agree that the primary purpose of VælgKlogt is to reduce overuse and secondarily to optimise public healthcare spending.” Table 3 shows other suggestions as to the purpose of the initiative.”

Source: Malling, B., Høffer, M., Raft, C. F., & Axelsen, S. (2021). The Danish Choosing Wisely concept. Danish medical journal, 68(10), A11200889.

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated Feb. 2, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.