Mobile Health Around the Globe: Thailand's Vibhavadi Hospital Trials New Zealand mHealth System

Vensa Health is a New Zealand company focusing on mHealth solutions. The mHealth+3 platform offers secure two-way messaging between providers and patients via personal device such as mobile phone, land-line or medical device. Key applications are appointment reminders, medication reminders, health advice, lab results and 3rd party health information systems interface.

Platforms such as Vensa Health’s mHealth+3 aim to save millions in health costs by significantly improving patient/provider communication.

The Vibhavadi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand has recently commenced a trial of the mHealth+3 system. Thousands of patients will be receiving SMS appointment reminders directly to thier mobile phones. The system could save the hospital millions by reducing missed appointments by 50%.

In a recent press release, Mr. Chaisit Viriyamettakul, Managing Director of Vibhavadi Hospital (photo at right from Vensa Health), says, “New Zealand has an established reputation in mHealth and Vensa is the market leader in the New Zealand healthcare system. We expect to be able to translate that success and use Vensa’s system to improve service integration at Vibhavadi and ensure more patients attend the appointments they need at the right time to stay well.”

In the same press release, Karen Campbell, New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner to Thailand, says “It’s great to see a New Zealand company leading the way in the Thai health market and providing an innovative solution to Vibhavadi Hospital, a world class hospital. New Zealand is gaining a reputation in Health IT with companies like Orion Health and Precept also providing great solutions for hospitals and other healthcare providers in Thailand and around the world.”

Vibhavadi Hospital is a private acute care hospital serving over 20,000 patients and 300,000 outpatients a year. It is part of one of the biggest networks of hospitals in Thailand.

The mission statement (from the website) states,

“We provide preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic healthcare under the guiding principles of medical professionalism with superior care, safety, advanced technology, and qualified medical staff.”

And their core values (also from the website) are stated as:

“Care
Teamwork
Integrity
Continuous Improvement
Learning
Excellence”

Miss Patamaporn Buppakasikorn, Project Director, Vibhavadi Hospital says, “Over the two month pilot we’ll be using the system across five departments, which represents around 15% to 20% of appointments scheduled. This will allow us to confirm the effectiveness of the system in terms of appointment attendance and we’ll also be able to assess savings to the hospital in terms of time and resources.”

Ahmad Jubbawey, CEO of Vensa Health (photo at right from Vensa Health) says, “We’re delighted Vibhavadi
Hospital is trialling our mHealth solution, with a local telco AIS providing the telecom infrastructure. We have around 70% of the market using our innovative system in New Zealand. We’re now focused on leveraging this position in South East Asia.”

Jubbawey says the opportunity is a global one as hospitals look for innovative technology to improve business and enhance healthcare outcomes. “The problems that our mHealth solutions address are universal. We’re excited at the opportunity to demonstrate success for Vibhavadi Hospital.”

sources:

http://hp.vensahealth.com/LatestNewsEvents/NewsArticle/tabid/166/smid/535/ArticleID/48/Default.aspx

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