Technology allows hospital to escape its four walls

In the near future, medical patients will be able to consult doctors or receive medical assistance wherever they are - at the gym, at a shopping centre, or at home - if Samitivej Hospital achieves its vision of what it calls "i-Connected Healthcare".

The hospital's vision, which it hopes to achieve in three to five years, is to be able to take its services to anywhere that a doctor can talk to a patient, and to work beyond the four walls of the hospital itself.

Bangkok Dusit Medical Services' chief operating officer Raymond Chong, who oversees Samitivej, said the hospital was moving into a new era of healthcare services, to become a hospital without walls. The "i-Connected Healthcare" plan was established this year as a master plan for the hospital's IT development, so that within three to five years, it can deliver its "hospital services, anywhere" concept.

"We will make our healthcare services available both inside and outside the hospital, giving patients convenient access to their doctors," Chong said. "The plan was begun this year with the implementation of new technology at Samitivej."

The technology is being rolled out in three phases. The first involved enhancing medical services within the hospital. A wireless network infrastructure now covers the entire hospital, from the Outpatients Department to inpatients, laboratories and x-ray rooms. The move has been from server-based to Web-based technology, allowing better communication channels between doctors and hospital staff and providing online facilities for patients, even though they've been admitted to hospital.

"At the Sukhumvit branch, we have installed the technology in 100 out of 250 inpatient rooms and at the Srinakarin branch, in 40 out of 100 rooms," Chong said. "With the Web-based technology, doctors can show x-ray, ultra sound or blood test results to patients easily and electronically via LCD TVs with WiFi built in."

The second step is beginning this month. It will allow doctors to carry laptop computers to visit inpatients in their rooms instead of carrying a wad of papers to record their treatments.

"Doctors will be able to note the condition of a patient into the laptop and send the record back to a database electronically, via the WiFi network," he said.

The third step, which is scheduled to start in the second half of next year, will improve on that system. New-generation LCD TV sets with touch-screen controls and a card slot for data input will be installed in all inpatient rooms.

 The doctors will be able to leave their laptops behind. By inserting their ID card into the card slot on the patient's LCD TV set, they will be able to access the hospital's patient-information system and input new treatment records.

"Doctors will be able to explain treatments to patients with pictures of x-rays or scenes from the operation room to help patients understand their condition easily and efficiently," Chong said.

The third phase will also see the implementation of the "i-Connect Healthcare" concept, allowing Samitivej to offer its services beyond the hospital environment. The hospital will then take care of its patients when they are outside the hospital, both before being admitted for treatment and later, after checking out.

Chong said Samitivej would provide both "B2C" and "B2B" healthcare next year. In a conventional sense, the abbreviations mean "business to customer" and "business to business".

B2C healthcare will deliver services to patients anywhere outside the hospital - in places such as shopping centres, gymnasiums and fitness centres, and even at a patient's home. Chong said this was designed as a follow-up service allowing patients to keep in touch with doctors without the need to travel to the hospital.

"Patients who normally come to the hospital every month or three months for checks on their blood pressure, blood-sugar levels, or cholesterol levels can use the B2C system instead," he said.   

B2B healthcare is about real-time telemedicine between Samitivej and Bangkok Dusit Medical Services' network of referral hospitals. It aims to expand medical services to broader areas, especially to the provinces where about 15 per cent of Samitivej's patients come from.

"B2C healthcare will be launched early net year and B2B healthcare will be rolled out in the second half of next year," Chong said.

He described the changes at Samitivej as "the hospital's growing up process". The five years from 2003 to 2007 were focused more on physical change and cultural implementation. But from now on, the change is about becoming technology-driven.

"We will implement all the necessary applications to make everything in the hospital automated. It needs not only technology, but also innovation. We are committed to being able to take the hospital everywhere for our patients," he said.