The healthcare industry is witnessing a strong transition with the explosive capabilities of technology. Recognizing the importance of effective technology application, on June 21, FV Hospital organized “Medical facility equipment management” symposium that captured strong attention of experts.
More than 150 guests attended the symposium, including hospital managers, representatives from various related government departments, healthcare directors, medical and nursing leaders of the city, medical equipment experts, healthcare consultants, university professors teaching various aspects of healthcare facility management, and prestigious speakers. This was the third time the “Healthcare Facility Management” Symposium was organised by FV Hospital and for the first time in such a magnum involving an array of international speakers from Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, India and Vietnam.
The knowledge shared is invaluable for planning the various departments of a hospital to ensure sustained result oriented healthcare facilities and ensuring the proper functioning and health of the technology in the hospital. Highlights of the presentations include current and future infrastructure management issues, offering sustainable development solutions, sharing innovative ideas, and ensuring patient safety.
From practical experience of building and operating medical facilities of Thomson Medical Group, Mr. Ng Mor Jack, CEO of Thomson Hospital Singapore, talked about the issue of “Transforming Service Delivery, Health Care through Service Planning, and Infrastructure Engineering”, refering to the appropriate application of technology that can help hospitals improve the quality of medical examination and treatment. He emphasized that building technology-based solutions right from the hospital operation planning stage will support staff to continuously perform their patient care work. In addition, he also shared improvements in infrastructure design to serve the diverse needs of patients.
Attending this event, Mr. Eric Woo Kit Seong, Vice President, Asia Pacific Regional Office, ECRI gave a presentation on “Medical technology innovation – Benefits and challenges for healthcare”. Mr. Eric Woo Kit Seong introduced outstanding advances in modern medical technology such as robotic surgycal system, artificial intelligence to support diagnosis and treatment, digital pathology, medical 3D printing, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) in medical examination and treatment, telehealth and so on. According to forecasts, the global medical technology market will reach approximately US$598.9 billion by 2024, while the digital health market worldwide is expected to make about US$193.7 billion.
Besides the great benefits, medical technology management also comes with many challenges such as risks of management, inventory, risk associated with cybercrime, calibration and testing. Mr. Eric Woo Kit Seong presented to the audience a holistic view of the management of the medical equipment in an advanced tertiary care system like FV Hospital.
Mr. Monojit Mitra, Facility and Biomedical Director of FV Hospital, Vietnam, presented a fresh perspective on “Climate Change and Challenges for Healthcare Facility Management”. Climate change has brought in various perils in modern live and the effect of the same for a healthcare system is immense as well. Mr. Mitra covered some of those perils and how the facility manager can plan alternative steps to counter each one of them in advance and prepare the hospital better to cope with the challenges it may face should a disaster occur.
The symposium contributed to raise awareness about the importance of applying technology in healthcare, while also providing hospital managers with valuable knowledge and experience to optimize operations, and improve the quality of medical services for patients.