Private Digital Healthcare in Sweden : A Study of Its Emergence and Legitimization

Abstract: In recent years there has been an exponential growth of private digital healthcare providers (or “net-doctors” as they are commonly called) in Sweden. Traditionally public healthcare in Sweden has been divided amongst the regions, but with the emergence of net-doctors came the first “national healthcare”. This development has not been without controversy and net-doctors have been critiqued and challenged in the media on multiple occasions.This thesis attempts to explain the emergence of these net-doctors, and how the legitimacy of netdoctors and digital healthcare was negotiated in public debate. It does so by reviewing the history of the Swedish public healthcare system, as well as highlighting important political shifts, changes in legislation, policy, and technological developments. It also includes a study on the debate surrounding these net-doctors, focusing on how they are portrayed, challenged, and defended in the media. It also studies the net-doctor’s responses to said challenges. The results indicate that a combination of market discourse constructions, inertia, and technological development created an opening in the Swedish primary healthcare field. It also indicates that how net-doctors are constructed, be it as a solution or a problem, has remained relatively consistent over time but that the challenges to their legitimacy may have led to a questioning of who should be doing digital healthcare