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Published on October 8, 2007

It was Friday morning when Suthakan Chaodee, a nurse at the Ban Namko Health Centre, started chatting via Skype - a computer telephone service - with a fellow nurse from Lom Sak Hospital. Suthakan was asking after a male patient she had referred to the hospital.

A webcam broadcast of the patient and the voice of the Lom Sak Hospital nurse confirmed that the patient was in a good condition.

"I have to follow up on all the cases we refer to Lom Sak Hospital," said Suthakan.

In this age of information technology, Suthakan isn't just able to follow up on her cases from a distance, but can also consult doctors if a patient shows symptoms that that are beyond her knowledge. This way, only serious cases need to be referred to the district hospital, she said.

"The computer program helps a lot with screening and treating patients with general symptoms or minor injuries. There is no need for them to crowd the Lom Sak Hospital," said the health centre's only nurse.

Ban Namko Health Centre is one of the 31 centres in Lom Sak district that have been upgraded to become mini- or Tambon hospitals. From being just clinics to prescribe simple drugs for things like the common cold, all 31 centres are now equipped with a computer, a satellite dish, a qualified nurse and an emergency mobile medical unit. Some of these centres even have their own dental department.

"We want to make these sub-district health centres efficient in giving primary healthcare services so that the burden on Lom Sak Hospital is reduced," said hospital director Dr Phongpitch Wongmanee.

Phongpitch initiated the project in 2002 with the aim of reducing the number of patients visiting his hospital, which as the only state-run hospital in the district had to handle as many as 700 patients per day. Most patients - even those with minor ailments - preferred to travel for hours because they did not trust the health centres, he said.

However, thanks to the Telephone Organisation of Thailand, which installed a satellite dish at every health centre for free in 2005, all 31 centres can now connect to the Internet and use Skype to consult doctors and take care of patients - all for a mere Bt1,500 per month.

"Patients can also talk to doctors on Skype if they feel uncomfortable about being treated by a nurse or a health official," said Suthakan.

At Lom Sak Hospital, computers have been installed in every single ward. Phongpitch said he encourages his staff to respond to all calls. He himself often spends time talking to health officials and patients. And Internet telephony isn't just convenient, it is also helping officials and nurses gain more medical knowledge.

Besides, five years into this project, patients visiting Lom Sak Hospital have more than halved, while those visiting health centres in their own sub-districts are the rise, said Phongpitch.

Kaysorn Wongmanee, chief of health at Lom Sak district, said she wants all the health centres under her supervision to be able to treat more complicated diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory diseases or even mental disease. Health officials have already undergone a special training programme held with support from several other provincial hospitals and tambon administration organisations in Lom Sak district.

Kaysorn's motto for success is believing in people's abilities. "Health officials can do much more if we give them a chance to learn and practise," she said.

Pennapa Hongthong

 The Nation

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