Cooperative systems for medical journeys and hospitals

Purpose and goal

During last year over one million medical journeys were made within Västra Götaland region, and nine out of ten of them are made using taxi or personal car at a cost of SEK 364 million. (1) What prevents people with visual impairments, travelers with wheelchairs and first-time visitors from traveling with public transport to and from the planned healthcare visit? (2) Are there new solutions or adaptations with the potential to clear any obstacles? (3) How can a Systems-of-systems perspective enable or facilitate for healthcare visitors to carry out a journey with public transport?

Expected results and effects

Three subsystems were identified consisting of one for Demand of travel (driven by caregivers and other societal functions), one for Offer (in the form of general and special public transport, commercial operators and private solutions) and one for Resources linked to region, municipality and the individual. Expected effects of the study are to spread the perspective of SoS in order to better understand, influence and match demand, offer and resources. The consortium is primarily focused on ensuring accessibility when it comes to the development of the future mobility system.

Planned approach and implementation

The study included an extensive series of activities together with representatives of critical users (travelers with visual impairment, with wheelchairs and first-time visitors) and the organizations (representatives from healthcare, medical journeys and public transport). The most challenging part was to go from an overall understanding and mapping of the entire user journey to concrete solutions with the potential to create value for everyone. Furthermore, it was challenging to adopt and spread the ideas around Systems-of-systems within the project.