The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) Thailand, the lead agency for developing the country’s healthcare system, to enable better health for the local population, has deployed VMware vSphere and VMware Horizon to consolidate its IT infrastructure for better management, performance and increased savings on operational expenditure.
MoPH’s aims to leverage information and communication technology (ICT) to improve the quality and coordination of healthcare services, allowing better access and more affordable care for patients, providers and facilitators. This strategy is closely aligned to that of the World Health Organization (WHO), according to the agency. It also supports the Thai government’s overall vision for “Digital Thailand,” which promotes the use of digital technology to create new opportunities for economic growth and improve the delivery of government services for its people.
“We are committed to innovating the way we deliver healthcare services across Thailand. As part of MoPH’s overall strategy to implement eHealth, we deployed VMware technology to improve our agility, efficiency and information security. Virtualization and business mobility solutions allow the industry -- hospitals and professionals – to deliver always-on healthcare for Thailand. This is a crucial step in the nation’s digital transformation and we look forward to incorporating more technology solutions from VMware to deliver greater value to our people,” said Assist. Prof. Polawat Witoolkollachit, M.D., Director of Information and Communication Technology Centre, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health
In recent years, Thailand’s healthcare system has undergone rapid improvement to keep pace with the country’s overall development. Almost all of Thailand’s 67 million-strong population now receive health insurance, since universal coverage was introduced in 2002. The country has also recorded a fall in infant and child mortality, rise in life expectancy and positive performances in global healthcare indicators. These successes were achieved in part through improvements to its IT infrastructure.
With more than 10,000 health IT units across Thailand’s 76 provinces, the ministry said there was a need to consolidate health IT infrastructure and enable the prompt exchange of information between MoPH and individual units located across the nation. A robust IT infrastructure would empower clinicians and administrators to optimize workflows, better manage and analyse patient data and enable mobile access to deliver faster and more consistent quality of healthcare for patients across the country,
Consolidation of IT resources for productivity
VMware vSpheresimplified MoPH’s data center operations by virtualizing and consolidating its servers and applications. The agency’s central IT administrators no longer had to spend as much time and effort to back up or restore standalone and physical servers.
The consolidation of information on virtual servers also improved coordination between central IT administrators and those at the provincial level, allowing MoPH to more accurately track, manage and deliver IT services and resources, resulting in cost savings and more efficient resource allocation.
Enabling mobility to deliver 24/7 healthcare across Thailand
Technology plays a key role in allowing healthcare professionals to provide fast, affordable and quality care to patients. To allow users access to information from any location, MoPH adopted VMware Horizon to virtualize its desktop infrastructure. As a result, hospital staff are now empowered to deliver always-on healthcare through secure and on-the-go access to desktop applications from almost any mobile device. The decision to implement a virtual desktop infrastructure reduced the time spent delivering IT support, addressed administrative overload and increased end-user efficiency and satisfaction.
Storing data on virtualized servers instead of end-user devices also reduced security risks, which is crucial when dealing with personal and sensitive data such as patient profiles and records. While mobility has been a key trend for industries worldwide, there is great potential for its use in healthcare, and especially in Thailand. The right IT infrastructure will allow citizens to have greater access to health services and information even in rural areas.
“Healthcare around the world is becoming increasingly digital, as the industry recognizes that technology can be used to deliver better outcomes for patients. Virtualization will help institutions better manage their IT resources, enhance mobility for healthcare providers and address concerns around the security of patient data,” said Ekpawin Sukanan, sales director, VMware Thailand.