Ramkhamhaeng Hospital Adopts Advantech’s AMiS eMedication Solution to Enhance Medication Safety
10/24/2022
![nurse-uses-amis-850t-in-hospital](https://advcloudfiles.advantech.com/cms/64b1f3e1-af6d-4e94-9f5a-73840f305a46/Content/nurse-uses-amis-850t-in-hospital.jpg)
Photo provided by Ramkhamhaeng Hospital
Explosive growth in both data and information technology utilization have led to the development of eHealth in many countries. eHealth is aimed at improving the accessibility and quality of care in health systems using information and communication technologies (ICTs), thereby helping healthcare providers do their jobs more efficiently and cost-effectively. Over the last two decades, the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand has implemented projects and policies to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare. These policies include Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and a nationwide Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. In 2019, Thailand had 66 hospitals accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI), including Ramkhamhaeng Hospital – one of Advantech’s partners.
System integration: flexibility to fit any clinical workflow
Ramkhamhaeng Hospital, which is among the top five largest private hospital groups in Thailand, has a dedicated IT team and their own Hospital Information System (HIS). To further reduce medication errors and improve healthcare service in the Inpatient Department (IPD), Ramkhamhaeng Hospital sought solutions that could be integrated into the existing HIS.
Medication management is a complex and multifaceted operation that involves multiple people and numerous steps. In general, medication errors usually occur at the stages of ordering or prescribing, documenting, transcribing, dispensing, administering, and monitoring. ePrescribing in Ramkhamhaeng Hospital’s HIS has minimized the risk of medication errors at the prescribing stage, but neither nursing workload nor medication errors were significantly reduced in IPD. Dr. Patrick, on the Board of Management of Ramkhamhaeng Hospital, stated that the hospital would like to improve nursing workflow and enhance medication safety in inpatient wards by utilizing intelligent medication devices which can be connected to the existing HIS.
To achieve the goal, the hospital commenced evaluating and testing products from several suppliers. However, they soon found the tested products had issues like being incompatible with their workflow, lacking system integration flexibility, high total cost of ownership, and not being designed for intensive usage in IPD, particularly in terms of durability and ergonomic design.
During Advantech’s visit in late 2019, the AMiS-850T Compact Automated Dispensing Cabinet was introduced to Ramkhamhaeng Hospital. Administrators were impressed by its reasonable price, durability, flexibility of system integration, and RFID technology. Advantech’s support team empowered the hospital’s health IT team through Open API to integrate AMiS-850T into their existing HIS, without changing workflow.
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Secure medication management in healthcare settings of any size
Since it allows medications to be stored and distributed safely near the points of care, AMiS-850T Compact Automated Dispensing Cabinet optimizes nurses’ workflow by eliminating repeat visits to the pharmacy. Designed with 4 tiers and capacity for 16 lockable medication bins, it is ideal for healthcare environments with limited installation space. AMiS-850T is also scalable for up to 6 units, which makes it a futureproof solution that fits various application scenarios for any size of healthcare settings.
Equipped with RFID technology, each medication bin can be encoded with patient ID and medication ID. RFID technology enables individual bin locking and tracking for strict access control. Medical staff can use AMiS-850T to pair medication bins with patient information or medications through the software system which can be customized by Open API provided by Advantech. The medication is then locked in its isolated medication bin which, can be accessed only by authorized medical professionals. Each time a medication is accessed, it is automatically recorded on HIS, which helps hospitals track medications and streamline the paperwork.
Besides reducing medication errors, the introduction of AMiS-850T into Ramkhamhaeng Hospital relieved pressure on IPD nurses, allowing them to spend more time on patient care. In this way, Advantech supported Ramkhamhaeng Hospital to achieve greater medication security and provide more patient-centered care.