The Digital Council of Thailand (DCT) is collaborating with 85 alliances -- comprising digital organisations -- to support the smart field hospital drive for Covid-19 field hospitals nationwide and provide digital solutions for the home and community isolation scheme as part of the joint efforts to combat the pandemic.
The smart field hospital model was initiated in April this year when the latest wave of the pandemic began. It was created through a collaboration with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and the Medical Council of Thailand (TMC).
DCT chairman Suphachai Chearavanont said three pilot field hospitals have been implemented, namely those organised by Chulalongkorn University, the Royal Thai Air Force and Thammasat University.
Smart field hospital guidebooks will be made available for other field hospitals to capitalise on digital solutions to support their work, he said.
The digital solutions could also help prevent virus contraction between medical personnel and patients.
"This endeavor is the outcome of collaborations between 85 alliance digital organisations, from both public and private sectors, to strengthen the public health service, and to support medical personnel and patients who are under home or community isolation with digital tech," Mr Suphachai said.
In collaboration with TMC and other digital partners, the DCT has also ushered in digital solutions for home and community isolation assistance.
Three assistance categories for smart home isolation are being provided, he said.
The first category of assistance focuses on the screening of patients to be admitted to the scheme, while the second focuses on the remote monitoring of a patient's symptoms, such as their temperature and oxygen levels.
The third category of assistance concerns medical consultation and the delivery of medicines. Using digital solutions, the patients can talk remotely with 150 doctors to assess their health condition, screening and treatment.
Regarding the community isolation scheme, the DCT has worked with four community isolation centres with the aim of supporting their management and aims to expand this to 50 centres, reaching out to about 5,000 patients in the future.
The DCT is ready to provide digital infrastructure, such as communication devices for both the smart home and community isolation aspects, as well as working with partners to bring in technology to support the public health system, including medical devices and ventilators.
"We were proud to work together and successfully develop a digital field hospital model," Mr Suphachai said.
The successful model can be followed by others through using the guidebooks supplied so they will be able to use the digital solutions appropriately, he said.
Air Vice Marshal Ittaporn Kanacharoen, secretary-general of the TMC, added that extension of the model will make a great contribution to Thailand's public health systems in the long term in line with the digital economy realm.