“Chula Care” better quality of service for patients

King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital (KCMH) has partnered with KASIKORNBAN (KBank) and Muang Thai Life Assurance Pcl. to implement “Chula Care” upgrading the quality of service provision for patients, their relatives and hospital staff to gain a position in the forefront of the region.

Prof. Suttipong Wacharasindhu, Director of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, said amid rapid demographic changes in Thailand, the number of aging people has increased, along with rising need for physicians, nurses and healthcare personnel, as well as medical establishments. Those requiring treatments are both in Thailand and from our neighbors. In 2017, KCMH served more than 1.6 million outpatients or 5,000 persons a day. Although the hospital has never ceased to develop its service processes, it is still in need of advanced technologies to provide greater patient convenience.

With cooperation of KBank and Muang Thai Life Assurance, the Chula Care project has been initiated on the synergy of knowhow and experience of the two organizations. This project’s objectives are to upgrade the patient management system, develop patient map and guide, promote health-related information and support telemedicine. The telemedicine service will be firstly launched for the Tele Neurology Clinic to accommodate bed-ridden senior patients for whom it is difficult to go to the hospital for their treatment.

Kattiya Indaravijaya, KBank President, revealed that under this cooperative effort, KBank has provided support through development of hardware and a team of experts to take part in developing a system to create an environment within KCMH, which efficiently gains access to, and maximizes the use of, information with any device, anywhere anytime. KBank’s initiatives include:

Development of Chula Care application enables faster and more efficient medical services, including alerts on physician’s appointment and queuing, notification on healthcare coverage (such as Social Security scheme, Universal Healthcare program), OPD guide status, payment via K PLUS and other mobile banking applications, indoor navigation map and guide. The application can be used with self-service kiosks to facilitate payment for patients who have no smartphone.

Data Hub integrates useful and ready-to-use information as well as data analysis tools allows the hospital to gain access to the information for further analysis with greater convenience and speediness. However, KCMH still has the sole rights to all data.

Telemedicine system development applies telecommunication advancement to healthcare services. The system which transmits image and voice data signals through computer network enables real-time communication between patients and medical personnel in order to share treatment-related knowledge through teleconference and teleclinic as well as for home healthcare.

HR development and staff mobile application accommodates personnel management and care to ensure a positive experience among hospital staff members, especially through remuneration and personnel development.

Mr. Sara Lamsam, President and Chief Executive Officer, Muang Thai Life Assurance PCL, said that Muang Thai Life Assurance has become an important part in the development of KCMH’s service provision, as well as in their preparations to improve the quality of life for senior citizens while Thailand is transitioning toward the aging society through the development of our technologies and services that meet the needs of service recipients in three aspects.

Development of health promotion and prevention program with Chulalongkorn University by monitoring health data at the hospital and patients’ homes. Such data is provide to the relevant doctor-nurse teams for conducting analyses and designing heath care programs that are appropriate to specific senior citizens.

Development of teaching and testing channels to offer convenience for the patients’ family members and care givers. With such channels, they are able gain access to various curriculums more easily, thus allowing them to learn more efficiently. All curriculums are available in a digital platform to ensure that the information is accurate and can be used more easily for maximum benefit.

Extension of protection for those holding OPD health insurance plans with the company. This will include treatments via teleclinic while claims can be made online via Chula Care application anywhere, anytime.

In addition, Muang Thai Life Assurance has offered life insurance and accident insurance plans for KCMH’s personnel, as well.