We all know the need to organize the storage when moving to new premises. Sigríður Dagný Þrastardóttir, divisional manager of reception and health data specialists at HSN in Akureyri, has certainly taken the lead with HSN in this matter, along with her colleagues. During the move of the Akureyri health clinic to Sunnuhlíð, a lot of effort was put into finishing the review of health data that has been collected on paper since 1938, record it well and put it in digital form, pack it according to established standards and send it to the National Archives for preservation. The Healthcare Institution of North Iceland is a delivery obligatory entity and therefore is required to return data for preservation, but in 2021 over 20 pallets of documents were returned to the National Archives.

“We’ve been working on this for the past few years. These are health data from all the facilities, which have great historical value and show how things were done in the old days. Working with such old material has a lot of charm.”

All the material is digitised into Saga system that keeps medical records. Everything is then sent to the National Archives for preservation, where it is stored as a source for individuals or for academic purposes to help research the history of the nation. “It’s a lot of paper, but we have to protect this old material. Take the good old vaccination certificates that followed us from birth and onwards, which have been lost in many cases. Before we send them to the National Archives, we all enter them into the Saga system, which makes it easier to access them than before.”

Ensuring quality and validity of health data is a key factor, and this work is the basis for getting all medical records handled in a standardized way, easily found and ready to use. “This is our medical history, our foundation that is important to preserve and can make a difference.” The project is major, but Sigríður Dagný and her team are starting to see progress by bringing more and more new material into the Saga system. “I think we’ll give it at least another year, and then we’re completely in the modern age.”