BTFP extends its support for the telemedicine system development project initially established by Naresuan University in hopes of combining hospital networks nationwide and exploiting new technologies to help improve medical care and reduce

General News Monday November 18, 2019 17:08 —PRESS RELEASE LOCAL

Bangkok--18 Nov--JP One Consultant Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for Public Interest (BTFP) is going full steam ahead in promoting the use of high-speed digital network as a part of telemedicine system development in remote areas. By offering a full research funding to Naresuan University in Phitsanulok province for its technology development project that helps improve the quality of emergency telemedicine system via high-speed digital network in remote areas (phase 2), the funding organization aims to create a mutual network among all hospitals and medical development centres in Phitsanulok province in order to help improve medical care and reduce inequality in access to medical services in Thailand. According to Mr. Nipon Jongvichit, an acting manager of BTFP, our country is experiencing a shortage of physicians when compared to the demand for medical treatment particularly in the remote areas. This is mainly due to medical services problems in Thailand including a lack of medical specialists in rural and remote areas which resulted from insufficient numbers of physicians who mostly tend to work in the central hospital or large hospitals in the city centre. With great concern over such issue, BTFP has agreed to provide a full research funding for the development project that aims to improve the quality of emergency telemedicine system via high-speed digital network in remote areas which would in turn help reduce inequality in access to medical services. With the use of high-speed digital technology as well as the promising efficiency of wireless technology, the organization hopes to establish a strong telemedicine network connection that allows medical specialists to have access to the patients via a real-time communication anytime and anywhere. The funding that BTFP has offered to Naresuan University is quite similar to a complete Tele Health service where physicians or medical specialists would be giving advice to nurses and patients via mobile application software specifically designed for healthcare professionals. This development project was first funded in 2014 and was tested as a prototype at 4-5 hospitals in a local area. The newly-improved emergency telemedicine system allows physicians to quickly connect, send and receive data, or gain access to the patient database via a high-speed digital technology where full-motion video images of the treatment would be sent through a telecommunication network to the medical specialists in the central or local hospitals, or directly to the medical specialists' smartphones. Such technology helps scale down the problem of physician shortage in all areas of the country while also helps create equality in access to medical treatment which in turn helps decrease the death rate of the population. By developing a high-speed digital telecommunication technology along with the medical care system, it helps provide not only an opportunity for further significant improvements but also remarkable benefits to Thai people and medical services in Thailand as a whole. "The university has recently applied for a full funding for the extended project in 2018 which is a technology development project that aims to help improve the quality of emergency telemedicine system via high-speed digital network in remote areas (phase 2) by creating a mutual network connection for every hospital in the province. As a funding organization, BTFP truly believes that this project will prove to be very successful and that the mutual network connection between hospitals, public health services, public health centres, as well as physicians and nurses would lead to a more efficient medical treatment for patients in remote areas. We are hoping to expand more in the next 2 years where the Ministry of Health would further be in charge of executing this project in other provinces. In 2021, the project extension would be included as a part of the Ministry's policy. If such development plan becomes successful, BTFP believes it would help provide a quicker treatment for general or less severe diseases." said Mr. Nipon Jongvichit. Correspondingly, Prof. Dr. Paisarn Muneesawang, Dean of the Graduate School at Naresuan University and a research project leader, said that this telemedicine system development project can be considered as the prototype system not only for hospitals in remote areas but also for central hospitals and large hospitals in the city centre or even in Bangkok as well. We have installed the system and set up the connection network, all operated and closely monitored by Naresuan University, between 10 hospitals including 8 hospitals in Phitsanulok province and 2 central hospitals. Through a detailed analysis constructed in line with the use of technology during the project implementation, we have found out that while most medical specialists are always travelling; most patients are, however, in desperate need of urgent treatments. For this reason, a mobile application on smartphones is a perfect solution to the problem for it allows medical specialists to communicate with the patients from anywhere and at any time. Currently, there are approximately 289 hospitals which can be connected through the telemedicine network including 157 hospitals in Phitsanulok province and 132 hospitals in Sukhothai province. Regarding the telemedicine system, we initially studied and analysed how the use of technology would help resolve problems in communication and access to medical specialists at an appropriate time, as well as how a majority of physicians are willing to provide emergency consultant to the patients. With advanced technology today that allows us to communicate faster and faster, we truly believe that the use of digital technology like mobile application on smartphones in the telemedicine system is now the best solution. During the development project, we have studied and placed a great importance on the following issues: 1. Data Centre – involves the quality of audio and video signals transmission such as DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) which allows an exchange of data during the treatment. 2. Consultant – involves medical specialists giving out advice via smartphones or tablets by using a VDO call. For instance, Augmented Reality (AR) technology allows a real-time communication between medical specialists and nurses during a surgical case, prenatal visit via telemedicine, or a case of abnormalities found during physical examination. 3. E-Learning – involves a multimedia communication which allows medical students to communicate with medical specialists who are providing treatment to the patients. Information regarding the treatment can also be stored in a database for further study or as a medical record for other similar treatments. We have also been extending the project development from phase 1 to phase 2 where a number of features on mobile application called NUMED are being developed to help provide better services such as consult appointments scheduling, chat function which allows users to send and receive photos and videos in groups, as well as a search function that allows users to find information on patients by inputting a 13-digit password. The consultation will somehow be categorized according to the expertise of medical practitioners whereas consultations with no medical record between patients and medical specialists will be stored as a backup data on the cloud server of provincial health office for further information access and retrieval. Moreover, we have also developed a Web Admin system which allows each hospital to freely manage and monitor their users on the application. In addition, the system is also linked to the Public Health Volunteer's mobile application called PCC Team which allows users to review medical records of community people by using a Face ID technology, report real-time situations via a high-speed internet network which are categorized into newborn, bedridden patients, risk-prone areas, and others; as well as verify the patient's profile and medical history via an online chat feature in order to help provide the most possible efficient treatment. The newly developed system also provides consultation via a tablet device and AR technology including virtual reality in a surgical treatment, an x-ray film viewer on a tablet, and a hologram technology for consultation through virtual reality headsets. Overall, it is suffice to say that technologies and resources have been fully utilized to achieve the maximum benefits for the medical industry in Thailand. In the future, when a mutual network connection between every hospital is developed and the telemedicine system is commonly practiced throughout the country, the problems of shortage in physicians and medical specialists, insufficient healthcare budget, and inequality in access to medical services will finally be eased off. As technology now plays a crucial role on the improvement of medical industry, a continuous development could further lead to better medical services in Thailand as a whole. A patient at home can communicate directly to a physician via a communication technology; a retired medical specialist can exploit his knowledge and experience in providing treatment to the patients via a communication device; an online medical clinic where specialists can communicate with their patients and have their prescriptions printed out via a mobile application on smartphones – all these are actually happening. What we must concern now is rather how to further develop and apply this practice nationwide.

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