What problems are you trying to solve?
When facing the challenges of COVID-19, protecting the medical team is as critical as providing care to the patients. Dealing with such a high contagious disease, hospitals need tools and technologies to help ensure the protection of their medical staff while caring for COVID-19 patients.
QOCA apc is a smart quarantine care solution to enable contactless monitoring, engagement, and care provisioning for patients in COVID-19 isolation wards.
Why is the problem critically chosen?
To help contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH)* has embraced efficient and scalable technologies while establishing dedicated COVID-19 patient rooms. The requirement of wearing protective suits when accessing the isolation rooms significantly slows down the jobs of the care staff. The top priority for the hospital is to facilitate care service without compromising safety. In addition, the agility, robustness, and scalability of the solution is a crucial consideration to the hospital. Finally, due to resource constraints and intensive workload, the solution must avoid overheads in its setup and operation with existing infrastructure.
*Taipei Veterans General Hospital: https://www.vghtpe.gov.tw/Index.action
What technologies are applied to solve the problem?
- Flexible networking integration including Ethernet and Wi-Fi infrastructure.
- Private, secure, and scalable cloud computing for medical big data analysis, real-time remote monitoring, and professional consultation.
- Integration of medically proven sensors and equipment in the form of a ward care pack*, including :
- Thermometer
- SpO2 Meter
- Blood Pressure Meter
- Glucose Monitor
- ECG monitoring device
- Smart patient terminals for health monitoring and video communication
*Devices provided are adjustable as required by care needs.
Any particular areas of improvement?
With the scalable smart quarantine solution QOCA apc* by Quanta Computer, TVGH is able to deliver efficient care for patients in COVID-19 isolation wards while reducing risks for their medical staff. The cloud-based architecture of QOCA apc gives users easy access to the care management portal from any device such as tablets, desktops or smartphones. With built-in support for wireless IoMT (Internet of Medical Thing) sensors, intelligent questionnaires and customizable care plans with user-friendly reminders, the solution helps streamline remote patient monitoring and integrates with the hospital’s Nurse Information System (NIS) for access and analysis. The data is controlled within a private cloud network to reinforce data privacy and security. Moreover, integrated video communication allows visual assessment and interaction between patients and the care teams.
The backend architecture of QOCA apc can scale up to accommodate multiple care teams and over one hundred patients across seven COVID-19 care centers. The deployment of QOCA apc effectively eliminates recurring entries into the patient rooms. Also, anomalies or inactivity in patient conditions will trigger alerts for the attention of the caring staff. As a result, their workload is significantly reduced while maintaining a high level of patient engagement with lower risks of patient contact.
* QOCA apc: http://www.qoca.net/product.php?id=1
What have you learned and how would the technology advancement potentially or practically help?
With QOCA apc, the healthcare provider is able to efficiently care for COVID-19 patients while protecting their medical staff. Its adaptability and scalability can accommodate various scenarios such as hotel-based isolation, residential quarantine, or remote monitoring in isolation wards. When the pandemic winds down, the same solution can be easily reconfigured to serve as a remote patient care portal for general patient wards.
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