Paperless prescriptions, online access to medical records and video chats with your doc are just a few features of the Danish healthcare system. Although not everyone has jumped on the digital bandwagon yet, about half of the country’s hospitals and nearly all primary care doctors have opted for electronic records.

An approach to medical treatment like this could drastically change the way doctors help their patients manage their health. Patients with heart conditions, for example, could log blood pressure readings to help doctors monitor response to new medications or simply to track progress.

Not only would this save the doctor and the patient time, but it could also cut costs. Since its switch to digital healthcare about ten years ago, Denmark has saved an estimated $120 million per year.

Although the system has come a long way, there are still a few kinks to work out. With the rapid change of technology, doctors and patients alike have had to adapt quickly to make the most use of these services. Budgeting, too, can be a challenge for the tax-funded program.

“We’re trying to streamline now,” Otto Larsen, director of the agency that regulates the system, said in a story by the New York Times. “There are too many systems out there.”

More and more technology is being developed to help doctors make diagnoses from afar Much of Europe has switched to electronic record-keeping, and many are embracing the switch to “telemedicine.”  U.S. legislators questioning whether a similar structure could work for the United States.

“It was a natural progression for us,” Larsen said. “We believe in taking care of our people, and we had believed this was the right way to go.”

Only time will tell whether or not the trend in digital healthcare will effectively spread.

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