Towards development of a national blueprint for better and smarter healthcare services in Thailand

Abstract

in recent years, Thailand and many countries around the world have faced challenges caused by inequity in accessing healthcare services, chronic disease management, demographic structural changes and an increased number of disabled populations. These facts have amplified dire needs for innovative healthcare services not only for treatments but also for prevention and public health promotion. to expedite the development of such innovations in community-based healthcare, ambulatory care and inpatient services, healthcare experts, technologists, and key stakeholders have teamed up at both the national and international level to develop a blueprint for implementing better and smarter healthcare services for both consumers and healthcare providers in Thailand. Three important business processes healthcare services reimbursement, patient referral and consultation and decision support processes linking sickness and population data are discussed to demonstrate the usability of the blueprint. The blueprint is in various stages of deployment in Thailand. © 2011 IEEE.