A Swedish healthcare region has decided to permanently abandon the Millennium patient record system after widespread failures. The system caused missing test results, incorrect medication orders, and lost patient information.
Western Sweden's healthcare authority confirmed it will not reintroduce Millennium. Officials cited major challenges and poor functionality as key reasons for the decision.
Regional director Ann-Charlotte Järnström explained the reasoning. She said continuing with Millennium would create too many obstacles for providing safe patient care. Employee experiences and system limitations heavily influenced the verdict.
The IT system launched in Western Götaland last November but stopped within days. Technical problems and staff complaints forced the immediate shutdown.
Sweden's health inspectorate began reviewing the system's implementation in January. Their October report found the region failed on multiple requirements.
The investigation revealed staff received insufficient training on the new system. The region also didn't ensure only medically appropriate technology reached patients.
Authorities gave the region until November 13 to address the identified shortcomings.
Millennium was meant to replace multiple healthcare record systems across Western Sweden. The system required years of preparation before its troubled launch.
The southern part of Western Götaland was first to transition to Millennium. Other areas were scheduled to join gradually over coming years.
Plans included integrating artificial intelligence to support healthcare staff eventually.
The same system operates in Sweden's Skåne region under a different name. That implementation continues despite Western Götaland's abandonment.
This represents another high-profile digital transformation failure in Sweden's public sector. The pattern shows the difficulty of implementing complex IT systems in critical services like healthcare.