Digital Excellence in Healthcare: APAC Case Studies Volume Two

Following the success of the first volume of Digital Excellence in Healthcare: APAC Case Studies, the second volume in this series features a number of digital health milestones in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

The first case study focuses on the Samsung Medical Center (SMC) in South Korea, which made history by being the first in the global health ecosystem to achieve INFRAM Stage 7. During the validation, it was found that SMC excelled in the wireless and mobility category. This success was in no small part due to the hospital’s implementation of infrastructural components that enable its personnel to perform to the best of their ability, in a more efficient manner.

Another healthcare provider recognised for its infrastructure in this issue is New Zealand's Tū Ora Compass Health, which achieved INFRAM Stage 6 in May last year—marking it as the first to attain the validation in APAC and the second worldwide. Tū Ora's journey to Stage 6 was rocky. They had to contend with a cyberattack in 2019, and a pandemic while simultaneously embarking on a comprehensive digital transformation program. Despite the setbacks, the organisation has put in place a successful infrastructure strategy, based on two simple goals: Cloud-hosted and "as a Service" first.

In Indonesia, Pondok Indah Hospital Group is leading the way in digital transformation, exemplified by its achievement as the first in the country to achieve EMRAM Stage 6. During the validation, HIMSS assessors noted that while recently introduced, closed-loop administration processes were well demonstrated for blood and blood products, human milk, and medicines administration. The hospital group's achievement signals the beginning of a shift in a country whose healthcare facilities are still largely untouched by digital technology.

Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital in Taiwan is another hospital that has recently achieved EMRAM Stage 6. The validation is a significant chapter in the story of Tungs' Hospital's ongoing commitment to the improvement of patient safety and the overall quality of its clinical care through the effective use of EMR technology. One program which HIMSS commended the hospital on is its Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, which uses data to study the rational use of antibiotics to ensure patient safety and improve medical quality. Through the introduction of closed management systems, the hospital has also seen a number of positive outcomes, such as error reductions in sample collection, medication, and blood transfusion, among others.

The final case study in this issue shines a spotlight on the Parkville Precinct in Australia, which worked with HIMSS to benchmark four of the hospitals it oversees against the EMRAM and O-EMRAM. Following the assessment, The Royal Children's Hospital became the first healthcare service in Australia to have been successfully revalidated following its first validation in 2017 (achieving EMRAM Stage 6 and O-EMRAM Stage 7) while the other three hospitals under the Precinct achieved Stage 6 for both EMRAM and O-EMRAM. Notably, a technical assessor for the validation remarked that the Precinct is well poised to leverage technology and data to deliver superior outcomes and "…be an exemplar not only in Australia but globally as well".