Why Denmark Spends Less on Healthcare Yet Coordinates Better | Rasmus Møgelvang, CEO, Rigshospitalet

Denmark’s healthcare model offers a different approach to coordination, efficiency, and patient-centered care. In this episode of Analyzing Healthcare by SCALE Community, Roy Bejarano speaks with Rasmus Møgelvang, CEO of Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, about centralized expertise, hospital-at-home care, national data infrastructure, workforce shortages, low-value care, fixed budgets, and public-private partnerships. Rasmus shares what Denmark’s healthcare system can teach the U.S. about using resources more effectively, bringing care closer to patients, and building infrastructure for the future. A timely conversation for healthcare executives, hospital leaders, policymakers, investors, and operators focused on health system design, digital infrastructure, workforce strategy, and value-based care. *What You’ll Learn* ✅ Why Denmark centralized care expertise before decentralizing services ✅ How chemotherapy and oncology care can move safely into the home ✅ Why Denmark focuses on stopping low-value and harmful care ✅ How national data infrastructure supports coordination and remote care ✅ Why workforce shortages are forcing systems to rethink resource allocation ✅ How fixed budgets affect innovation funding ✅ Why public-private partnerships are critical to scaling new solutions *Key Timestamps* (00:14) Rigshospitalet and Denmark’s national hospital role (02:02) Denmark vs. NHS and U.S. healthcare models (05:05) Centralize knowledge, then decentralize care (06:40) Cancer treatment at home (09:26) Healthcare spending and waste (11:00) Platform trials and low-value care (13:25) Nordic data sharing (14:30) Virtual Nordic University Hospital (16:59) National patient data and interoperability (18:40) Remote MRI, neurosurgery, and COVID response (21:55) Global research and public systems (23:59) Demographics and workforce shortage (28:57) Limits of fixed-budget medicine (32:13) Innovation and public-private partnerships (32:49) Real partnerships with industry *Key Takeaways* 💎 Denmark’s model shows the power of centralizing expertise and standards, then decentralizing care delivery closer to the patient. 💎 Hospital-at-home is not just a convenience strategy; it is a workforce, access, and capacity strategy. 💎 A value-based public system creates stronger incentives to identify and stop low-value or harmful care. 💎 National data infrastructure allows patient information to move across sites of care and support real-time coordination. 💎 Remote diagnostics and virtual specialty support can extend advanced care beyond the walls of major hospitals. 💎 Fixed annual budgets can support discipline, but they also make long-term innovation investment more challenging. 💎 Public-private partnerships help hospitals co-create scalable solutions rather than simply buying what already exists. *Guest Bio* Rasmus Møgelvang is Chief Executive at Rigshospitalet. He is a qualified physician and has previously been the Deputy Chief Executive of the hospital. He has also been the Centre Director of the Heart Centre at Rigshospitalet. Rasmus Møgelvang is also a member of the Danish government´s Life Science Council. *SEO Keywords* Rasmus Møgelvang, Rigshospitalet, Roy Bejarano, SCALE Community, Analyzing Healthcare, Denmark healthcare system, Nordic healthcare, single payer healthcare, hospital-at-home, healthcare centralization, healthcare decentralization, national patient data, interoperability, public-private partnerships, low-value care, workforce shortage, fixed budget healthcare, value-based care, healthcare innovation, health system design