Ongoing clinician training
For Bumrungrad, the concept of clinical effectiveness is focused on appropriate diagnosis with the most effective treatment options. To this end, the hospital places a huge emphasis on providing its clinicians with strong academic support.
According to Dr. Lungchukiet, the hospital conducts weekly Continuing Medical Education sessions to keep physicians informed of the latest clinical practice guidelines; Health Profession Education sessions for multidisciplinary care teams to share best practices; and workshops and simulation training for physicians to learn new skills or to improve their current techniques.
On a daily basis, the hospital has leveraged technology to help clinicians continue to expand their medical knowledge and achieve the highest possible level of clinical effectiveness. Clinicians at Bumrungrad have electronic access to UpToDate® clinical decision support and Lexicomp drug information to support their decision-making process. “We provide our physicians and health allied personnel with the most advanced and highest standard medical knowledge repository — UpToDate and Lexicomp — as clinical information support for the most accurate clinical decisions to be made,” said Dr. Lungchukeit.
Considerations when choosing new clinical technologies
It is also important for hospitals to take several key factors into account when selecting the most appropriate healthcare technology and decision support tools for its clinicians and patients. Dr. Lungchukiet advises hospital leaders to first determine how the solution will be used and the benefits and limitations of the technology. For example, user-friendliness is a main consideration.
“At the same time, a ‘good’ technology also has to be timely,” she explains. “It should enable care to be delivered at a faster pace, withstand the test of time and progress together with the care team.”
Above all, Dr. Lungchukiet says, “when choosing a technology or solution that is designed for use with a patient, safety is the primary concern.”
UpToDate is a tool that checks these boxes, she notes. UpToDate has a “Practice Changing UpDates” section, which highlights the most important developments affecting the way clinicians practice in their respective disciplines, offering quick, easy access to crucial updates.
“The information is concise with relevant links for navigating to referenced articles,” Dr. Lungchukiet observes. “We can duly summarize pertinent information and share them with patients, relating to their specific conditions.”
Information in UpToDate is updated daily, or sometimes even more frequently than that, when important new information is published. However, quality of information is not compromised by speed. A global team of more than 7,300 experts follow a rigorous editorial process to critically evaluate the latest available literature and produce actionable, trusted, evidence-based clinical content.
Each addition or update to content is synthesized and reviewed by at least three expert contributors before it’s considered ready for publishing, ensuring that only credible, evidence-based information is presented to users. This fits in well with Bumrungrad’s ethos, Dr Lungchukeit explains. “I think evidence-based practice is an important part of clinical effectiveness. The UpToDate tool can support our physicians and care team by providing relevant clinical information at any point during patient care.”
About Bumrungrad International Hospital
Founded in 1980, Bumrungrad International Hospital has been a global pioneer in providing world-class healthcare services and international patient support for nearly four decades. Located in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand, Bumrungrad is an internationally accredited, multi-specialty hospital listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1989. One of the largest private hospitals in Southeast Asia, Bumrungrad International Hospital cares for over 1.1 million patients from more than 190 countries annually.