Save time, costs, reduce plastic waste thanks to digital transformation at hospitals

Every year, many hospitals in Quang Ninh spend billions of dong printing films, and the water used to develop the films causes pollution. Now, thanks to digital transformation, hospitals have saved costs and reduced plastic waste.

Every year, many hospitals in Quang Ninh spend billions of dong printing films, and the water used to develop the films causes pollution. Now, thanks to digital transformation, hospitals have saved costs and reduced plastic waste.

Patients are convenient, hospitals save money

At Quang Ninh General Hospital, just 1-2 years ago, it was not uncommon for patients to have to come to the hospital at 4am to wait for examination.

Digital transformation helps Quang Ninh General Hospital save billions of dong each month by not having to print films.

According to specialist doctor II Nguyen Ba Viet, Director of Quang Ninh General Hospital, he has received many phone calls from patients complaining about having to wait a long time when coming to the hospital for examination, so the hospital is determined to deploy an online appointment booking system.

If at the beginning of 2024, the rate of online appointment booking was only 15%, now it has increased to 50%. Appointment booking is implemented via phone, Zalo, hospital website and mobile application.

Appointments are distributed evenly throughout the day, helping to limit local overload. Patients only need to arrive at the hospital 10 minutes before their appointment and do not have to buy a medical examination book if they do not need it. The medical examination and treatment process only requires a QR code to go through all departments and rooms.

"Patients, including my family members, come to the hospital without knowing anyone or asking for help to schedule an appointment or get an early scan. People can go to the hospital without bringing any documents," said Director Nguyen Ba Viet.

In order to achieve the goal of digital transformation towards a smart hospital model, according to Dr. Viet, the Hospital has invested in building a synchronous information technology infrastructure system that reaches level 6/7 according to the infrastructure criteria group of the Ministry of Health.

The hospital also uses electronic medical records and many other systems such as medical image archiving and communication (PACS), which help reduce errors in data entry, coordinate health insurance payments and contribute to transparency in all medical examination and treatment activities.

Regarding the benefits of digital transformation, it not only helps patients benefit but also helps hospitals save costs on film printing and waste treatment.

At the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Quang Ninh General Hospital, Dr. Ngo Quang Chuc, Head of the Department, shared that previously, the hospital had to print about 3,000 films/month, and the cost of buying films alone cost 1.5 billion VND per year. The treatment of film washing water is very complicated and expensive because the films are contaminated with lead. If not well controlled, this waste will cause poisoning and environmental pollution.

Now, when a patient comes in for an X-ray, the results will be sent to the patient’s phone number, without having to wait for the film. This is not only convenient for the patient but also saves costs for the hospital and at the same time helps protect the green, clean environment.

In addition, when using paper records, hospitals had to arrange warehouses to store patient records and data for decades. Now, with the use of electronic medical records, hospitals can easily manage records, reduce medical waste, ensure cleanliness and protect the landscape.

Digital transformation of healthcare, eliminating paper records, paper prescriptions and not printing plastic films has helped the hospital save billions of dong, reduce plastic waste and hazardous waste, and protect the hospital environment.

With digital transformation, what makes patients most satisfied is that they can proactively understand the medical examination and treatment process without having to wait anxiously, not knowing when it will be their turn or when the results will be available.

The total time from arrival to departure has been reduced by more than 2 hours. Doctors are also more convenient in diagnosis and treatment; when visiting, they can look up patient information through software on the phone instead of having to flip through each page of paper medical records.

According to the Ministry of Health, a few years ago, the cost of buying film each year for hospitals in Vietnam was about 2,000 billion VND. Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Quy Tuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association, said that with PACS software when applied in Vietnam, the cost is only 50% of the value of the film. PACS, if deployed synchronously, will not only help medical facilities save costs, improve the quality of diagnosis but also protect the environment because there is no need to print film.

The leader of the Department of Health Environment Management (Ministry of Health) also stated that the digital transformation of healthcare has brought many benefits, convenience in medical examination and treatment, preventing plastic waste and helping the hospital environment to be clean and avoid infection.

Medical plastic waste management initiative

The medical plastic waste management initiative has helped Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital earn a total profit of nearly 475 million VND in 2023.

Specifically, thanks to the autoclaving method, the hospital successfully treated 45,800 kg of infectious medical waste, converting them into recyclable regular waste.

According to specialist nurse I Truong Thi Kieu Oanh, Head of the Infection Control Department of Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital, due to the nature of using disposable medical supplies to ensure safety, plastic waste in hospitals accounts for a high proportion.

Common types of waste include plastic bags, medical supplies packaging, drug packaging tools, chemicals, needles, gloves, bottles, medicine vials, etc. If not handled properly, these wastes can cause serious environmental pollution.

To minimize waste, especially medical plastic waste, the hospital has researched and coordinated with experts from the Department of Medical Environment Management (Ministry of Health) to deploy effective treatment solutions.

The hospital is currently applying non-incineration autoclaving technology to treat infectious plastic waste. Test results from the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health (Ministry of Health) show that this method meets safety standards.

This non-combustion method does not generate smoke or toxic gases, significantly reducing the risk of air, soil and water pollution.

Furthermore, this method also helps convert infectious medical waste into recyclable normal waste, minimizing the accumulation of hard-to-decompose plastic waste. This opens up a sustainable development direction for the health sector, while protecting the environment.

The hospital also practices waste separation at the source, with clearly labeled bins to avoid confusion.

All injection vehicles have their own sorting bins, labeled with specific instructions. In addition, medical staff regularly promote and encourage patients and their families to sort waste in the right places, limit the use of disposable plastic products, and increase the reuse and recycling of plastic products. This not only helps maintain the habit of protecting the environment in hospitals but also contributes to reducing plastic pollution.

Talking about the model being implemented here, Dr. Phan Thi Ly, Head of the Department of Medical Environment Management, Department of Medical Environment Management (Ministry of Health), highly appreciated the Hospital's initiative.

According to Dr. Ly, this is not only an effective solution in the context of global plastic pollution but also the basis for authorities to develop widely applicable policies.

The circular economic model in hospital medical plastic waste management deserves to be replicated, contributing to building a green healthcare system and protecting the community.

Previously, the Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital was also the pioneer in the country to implement the solution of recycling infectious plastic waste by steam sterilization. This solution is not only technically effective but also helps save costs, protect the environment and improve community living conditions.

This model has been highly appreciated by the Department of Health Environment Management and introduced to other medical facilities in the country to visit and learn, and has been reported at many conferences and seminars to share experiences.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/tiet-kiem-thoi-gian-chi-phi-giam-chat-thai-nhua-nho-chuyen-doi-so-tai-benh-vien-d231781.html