Karolinska University Hospital is developing the future of healthcare with AI and now ranks among the world’s ten smartest hospitals
AI is creating new opportunities in healthcare. The technology can help advance diagnostics, streamline workflows, and give clinicians better support in their clinical work. At the same time, this development calls for expertise, clear governance, and responsible implementation.
At Karolinska University Hospital, AI is part of the long-term effort to develop care. The goal is to use the technology where it makes a real difference, with patients’ needs, patient safety, and operational conditions at the center.
“We should be proud of everything we have accomplished together. It is thanks to all of our dedicated employees that we appear on the list of the world’s most innovative hospitals. It is proof of our ability, as a hospital, to integrate advanced technology into care so that technological progress can quickly benefit our patients,” says Christophe Pedroletti, CEO at Karolinska University Hospital.
AI needs to become part of everyday care
Healthcare is evolving quickly. At the same time, it faces major challenges, including changing demographics, growing care needs, and a rising number of advanced treatments. This makes it essential to use expertise and resources as effectively as possible.
Digitalization and AI can help meet these challenges, but the benefit does not come from the technology itself. New ways of working must also function in everyday clinical practice, and employees need the right knowledge and conditions.
“Used correctly, AI can improve patient safety, reduce workloads, and improve our processes. With the regional responsibility for Vårdens IT, Karolinska has taken on a key role in this development. The assignment includes, among other things, the implementation of a new main electronic health record system, the build-out of a shared data platform for health data, and responsibility for ensuring that AI is introduced in a controlled and secure way,” says Christophe Pedroletti.
A joint investment in AI competence across Sweden
A key prerequisite for succeeding with AI in healthcare is to strengthen competence and create the conditions for structured and responsible use.
Through the Swedish University Hospital Alliance (SUHA), Karolinska University Hospital is part of the joint initiative Health AI Academy Sweden. The initiative recently received funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) and aims to strengthen AI competence in Swedish healthcare through collaboration among the country’s university hospitals.
The initiative will help more employees learn how AI can be used in care, what opportunities the technology offers, and what risks need to be managed.
“To me, stronger AI competence and close, focused collaboration among the country’s university hospitals are two absolutely essential conditions for succeeding with AI in healthcare. They are important so that we can work with AI in a structured and professional way, capturing the benefits while avoiding and managing the risks and pitfalls the technology can bring,” says Joel Preger, Chief AI Officer at Karolinska University Hospital.
From shared guidelines to clinical application
Several activities are under way at Karolinska to create a common foundation for AI work and make it easier for departments to use the technology in a thoughtful and safe way.
The work includes, among other things:
- AI policy and guidelines that clarify the conditions for using AI.
- Training and professional development to strengthen employees’ knowledge of AI, including its possibilities and limitations.
- Support for departments, including training materials for workplace meetings.
- Tools for clinical application that support the work of putting AI’s potential into practice in everyday care.
- Making available and further developing tools for administrative purposes, such as internal and public AI assistants.
The work is about both establishing clear frameworks and giving departments the means to identify relevant areas of use. New solutions need to be assessed based on factors such as patient safety, information security, quality, and actual benefit.
Tenth place among the world’s smartest hospitals
Karolinska University Hospital’s development work is also attracting international attention. In World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2027, a ranking produced by Newsweek in collaboration with Statista, Karolinska places tenth in the world. This is an improvement of one spot compared with last year’s ranking.
The ranking recognizes how hospitals use technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, telemedicine, and advanced data analytics to develop care and improve hospital operations.
For Karolinska, the ranking is international recognition of the hospital’s work on digital development and advanced technology. At the same time, what matters most is the practical benefit: that the technology helps advance care, strengthen patient safety, and create better conditions for both patients and employees.
The ranking evaluates hospitals’ use of smart and advanced technology and should not be confused with Newsweek’s separate ranking, World’s Best Hospitals, which assesses hospitals using other criteria.
Read more about the World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2027 ranking.
Text: Sara Kvarfordh