BNH Hospital goes fully paperless with InterSystems TrakCare

THAILAND – BNH Hospital, Thailand’s first international private hospital established in 1898, has fully transitioned to a paperless system by implementing the InterSystems TrakCare electronic medical record (EMR) system.

This move is part of Thailand’s broader initiative to modernize healthcare services and enhance patient care through digital transformation.

Recently acquired by Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS), Thailand’s largest private hospital network, BNH Hospital is now integrated into the Samitivej group, which comprises six other hospitals.

The adoption of the TrakCare EMR system across the Samitivej group aims to standardize operations, improve efficiency, and facilitate the introduction of advanced technologies like data analytics for better clinical decision-making.

Prior to this, three Samitivej hospitals had utilized InterSystems TrakCare for nearly a decade, while the remaining four, including BNH, operated on different EMR systems.

This disparity posed challenges in standardizing data for effective analytics. InterSystems collaborated with Samitivej to deploy TrakCare across all group hospitals, completing the final implementation in April.

Transitioning from a heavily customized legacy system, BNH Hospital recognized the need for a comprehensive change management program to ensure clinician adoption of the new system.

Led by Assistant Hospital Director Dr. Apichai Chaiyaroj, cardiologist Dr. Natthinee Mattanapojanat, and informatics nurse Ms. Sareeyanan Sasiyabhand, and strongly supported by the hospital’s executive team, the program engaged clinicians from the outset of the TrakCare implementation.

As a result, BNH Hospital achieved 100% clinician adoption upon completing the initial TrakCare implementation, a significant improvement from the 70% adoption rate of the previous EMR system.

This full adoption provides the hospital with enhanced access to clinical, operational, and financial data, offering a comprehensive view of patient information.

Utilizing the latest local version of TrakCare without customizations allows BNH to integrate continuous updates seamlessly, including new clinical functionalities and compliance with Thai regulatory requirements.

Looking ahead, BNH’s leadership plans to engage clinicians in exploring additional TrakCare features.

Dr. Chaiyaroj emphasized the hospital’s commitment to a fully paperless environment for both inpatient and outpatient services, stating, “We are looking forward to using more structured data for further use. With the current AI availability, I believe we can go even further.“

The hospital also aims to expand closed-loop medication management, integrate mobile devices, and delve into data analytics to further enhance patient care.

InterSystems Regional Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Luciano Brustia, praised the collaboration, noting, “Our collaboration with BNH Hospital on this change management process has been rewarding. Achieving 100% clinician engagement is a significant milestone that supports the hospital’s goal of leveraging new technology for improved patient care.”