Digital services leader installs telemedicine systems in the field hospitals, AI and 5G to speed remote diagnoses, app to coordinate village health volunteers
Since the first wave of COVID-19 hit Thailand in early 2020, digitalization has become a big trend. As people have adopted Work from Home and Learn from Home practices, Thailand’s telecom industry has grown by an astonishing 30 per cent, in terms of usage. Both Wireless (Mobile) and Fixed Line (Fixed Broadband) services have experienced this increase.
However, increased use does not translate into comparable revenue growth. Telecom industry operators have not seen their revenue grow by 30 per cent.
The chief executive of Thailand’s digital services leader, Advanced Info Service (AIS), Somchai Lertsutiwong, says his firm is fortunate that people regard its services as necessary. However, the growth rate of the telecom industry is always limited to one to two per cent above the growth rate of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
When Thailand’s GDP shrank by 6.1 per cent in 2020, the telecom industry recorded a negative growth rate of about four per cent. In 2021, the GDP is expected to grow by a few per cent, and forecasts suggest that the telecom industry will enjoy growth of between three and four per cent. While this is a far cry from the 30-per-cent growth rate it is achieving in terms of service usage, the telecom industry is in a position far better than many. Tourism and hotel businesses, for example, have been hit very hard by the COVID-19 crisis.
“After the first wave of COVID-19 hit Thailand, economic recession began. In the middle of 2020, we introduced a rehabilitation plan in the hope of being able to drive the country’s growth and improve its future. Last July, we were talking about recession, recovery and growth. But late last year, our country suffered a second wave of local COVID-19 transmissions. Then, almost unbelievably, we are now facing a third wave of COVID-19 that began around March. Now, what we must do is help one another brave our way through this crisis,” Somchai says.
While AIS hopes its business will grow by two to five per cent this year, if the third wave of COVID-19 does not subside soon, it may need to readjust its business targets.
Despite the damaging third wave, AIS continues to pursue collaborations in its bid to help the country pull through. The campaign to help the country fight COVID-19 began just a month after AIS received a 5G license in February 2020 for its plan to use 5G services as driving forces for Thailand’s development. The first wave of COVID-19 emerged, and AIS turned its focus to using 5G in the battle against COVID-19. The company played a prominent role in adapting technologies for the country’s healthcare sector during the first wave. For example, it developed Robot for Care in support of health services, and using artificial intelligence (AI), it also contributed to telemedicine services. These initiatives helped to lower the risks of disease transmission to medical workers in the front line.
After the second wave of COVID-19 started late last year, AIS rolled out more tech-enabled solutions. It integrated technologies to help with quarantine monitoring on yachts, and offered technological support to several field hospitals. Like much of the country, AIS never thought during the second wave that a third wave would occur so easily. So, while the second wave of COVID-19 was raging, AIS placed an emphasis on tech for functionality and for tourism, rather than on tech for disease prevention.
Now, in the midst of the third wave, the digital services company is refocusing on “AIS 5G in the Battle against COVID-19”. It has implemented a new campaign: “AIS Battles the Third Wave of COVID-19”, based on the principle of “connectivity and help for all Thais”.
Taking into account the realities of the current situation, AIS has now set its sights on four elements, as it tries to build upon its successes during the first and second waves of COVID-19.
First, AIS is now helping field hospitals. Given that the third wave is proving to be far more serious than the first two waves, it is now using its 4G, 5G and Wifi networks to support as many as 31 field hospitals. With AIS support, they enjoy efficient connectivity.
Second, AIS is now supporting telemedicine because such innovative services reduce the risks of disease transmission to doctors and other medical workers. In the past, AIS provided robots and telemedicine systems. Now, it can offer additional support because it has a partner firm to make telemedicine even more efficient.
Third, AIS is using artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G for COVID-19 swab tests. An AI system can read the results of swab tests and CT scans of lungs at an accuracy rate of 97 per cent. Last year, such services were available only at the Vajira and Chulabhorn Hospitals. Now, these services will be introduced at several provincial hospitals.
Fourth, AIS is engaging about one million village health volunteers in its battle. At present, more than half of these volunteers are already using Or So Mor Online (Village Health Volunteers Online). Funded by AIS, development of the app has taken more than four years to complete. Now, it has all of the features and functions sought by the Public Health Ministry. For example, the app has features to track patients under investigation or those that must be monitored, making the work of village health volunteers much more efficient. In addition, the app occasionally gains new features to give better support to the volunteers’ operations. Other than features that serve the purposes of the Public Health Ministry, there are features designed to take care of the emotional health of people who have tested positive to COVID-19, as well as people who have already recovered from the disease.
The Head of AIS’s Nationwide Operation and Support Department, Wasit Wattanasap, says his firm is committed to the mission of “Connectivity and Help for All Thais” as it strives to respond to the COVID-19 situation in a timely manner.
During the second wave of COVID-19, AIS collaborated with various government agencies in dispatching mobile swab-test units to many areas. All of these mobile units were equipped with high-speed internet.
The mobile units must not only collect specimens, but also the information of people undergoing the tests. Data must be shared with the Public Health Ministry, which must record who received a COVID-19 test, when the test took place, and what the results were. In this process, convenient and efficient data transmission via the internet is a must, Wasit says.
At field hospitals, high-speed internet is also essential because it helps to connect health-monitoring systems with patient information, such as body temperature and vital signs.
“We have worked closely with the organizations that have set up field hospitals,” Wasit says.
AIS has been concerned to protect its staff when they are dispatched to field hospitals or any other risky area. For example, to set up communication systems at field hospitals, AIS staff arrive and do their jobs before any patient is admitted. At present, AIS has installed high-speed internet systems at 84 field hospitals and vaccination sites that have a combined total capacity to accommodate more than 10,000 patients. Not only do medical workers enjoy the efficiency of internet services, but patients can also get free WiFi during their stay in field hospitals. Internet connections mean a lot to patients who have to stay away from their loved ones, Wasit explains, adding that with free WiFi, they can also stay connected.
AI and 5G are not new things in the battle against COVID-19. Indeed, AIS has been using these technologies since the emergence of the first wave. Both the Vajira and Chulabhorn Hospitals in Bangkok got 5G and AI support from AIS during the first wave. With the disease now spreading wider, AIS has contacted provincial hospitals that have CT scan machines with offers to boost their work efficiency with 5G networks. To date, AIS has extended 5G services to hospitals in Phetchabun, Roi Et and Nan. Supported by the 5G technology, COVID-19 tests can be done faster and with higher efficiency. A swab test will deliver results within 30 seconds, and when it is backed by both a CT Scan and AI, diagnoses have an accuracy rate of about 97 per cent.
Wasit says tech support offered by AIS looks set to efficiently help doctors and facilitate active case findings during the ongoing battle against the new coronavirus disease. The move also gives solid proof that AIS has been using 5G for the delivery of better healthcare services in remote areas.
AIS has also partnered with several organizations on the COVID-19 front. For instance, the developer of the telemedicine app “Me More” is a long-time partner, having collaborated with AIS ever since the first wave of COVID-19 began. The collaboration initially began with the provision of telemedicine rooms at Rajavithi Hospital. Me More provided a platform from which doctors could work inside the rooms for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. At the Chulabhorn Hospital, a similar telemedicine initiative was designed for users of the hospital’s Hotline services, and the hospital’s telemedicine services have also relied on the Me-More platform.
In the midst of the third wave of COVID-19, Me More has collaborated with AIS again. This time, the collaboration focuses on the development of a platform for field hospitals.
A co-founder and Head of Business Development for the developer of Me More, Divergent Thinking Company Limited, Kridchaya Komonsittivate, says that with the app, hospitals can deliver comprehensive healthcare services to patients over a distance. Treatment records can be made and stored in the hospitals’ health information system. Moreover, the app enables appointment scheduling, alerts for upcoming appointments, online payments, and tracking of medicines sent to patients’ homes. Patients can also activate the app to track their medicine deliveries and check their past history.
For field hospitals battling COVID-19, Me More has developed a system that reduces physical contact between doctors and patients. Using the system, doctors and patients can still talk and see each other as if they are sitting face-to-face. The telemedicine system facilitates the delivery of medical care while allowing social distancing, which is a key measure to prevent the spread of the highly-contagious virus.
“We have used two main features of telemedicine for the Erawan 2 field hospital, which is located inside the Bangkok Arena. The first is a Video Call feature, which lets doctors check patients’ symptoms and give them advice. The second is a notification feature that alerts patients to the need to monitor their symptoms, for example, by checking body temperature and blood pressure. After doctors or nurses create a schedule for such monitoring, patients must fill in information on time,” Kridchaya explains.
Wasit says that each field hospital has between 150 and 500 beds, and most patients have just mild symptoms. Yet their condition must be monitored all the time. While there are huge numbers of patients at each field hospital, there are limited medical personnel. At the Erawan 2 Hospital, only nurses are on duty, but patients can seek medical help from doctors based at the Nong Chok Hospital, which is just four kilometers away. Presently, there are between three and four nurses at Erawan 2 Field Hospital. They use the telemedicine app to notify patients to monitor their body temperature and vital signs. After this information is entered into the system, doctors can determine the conditions of patients under their care.
If any patient shows worrying symptoms, doctors use the app to call and deliver telemedicine services. As the main function of field hospitals is to monitor the health conditions of COVID-19 patients, AIS has also installed CCTV systems at several field hospitals to ensure that doctors can monitor patients’ symptoms from afar. If anything serious happens, patients then get a timely response.
Plea for Public–Private–People Partnership in Fight against COVID-19
AIS Chief Executive Somchai says the third wave of COVID-19 crisis has become very serious, and overall community sentiment is different from that of last year. When the first wave of the disease emerged, fears spread quickly even though many fewer cases were reported. Given that the third wave is grave, Somchai says that AIS, on its own, cannot help Thailand brave through the crisis.
AIS therefore recommends adoption of the Public–Private–People Partnership (which was first recommended last July). Simply put, AIS believes it is time for the government or public sector, the strong private sector, and all of the people to fight efficiently, together, against COVID-19.
“Everyone must prepare themself, get ready for a fight, and be fast to adapt. It is no longer enough for the government to seek cooperation only from the people. It is high time that the government achieved the Public–Private–People Partnership. This model must materialize to deliver a powerful fight against COVID-19. Today, the atmosphere for collaboration is good. For example, 40 CEOs have just met with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss cooperation. Moreover, 200 CEOs have vowed to inject money into the battle against COVID-19 so that the country can pull through,” Somchai points out.
He says the Public–Private–People Partnership will be strong if the government makes solid preparations for vaccination. It is important that there is enough herd immunity to prevent the emergence of the fourth or fifth wave of COVID-19. To ensure effective herd immunity, more than 70 per cent of Thais must be vaccinated. At the same time, the government must plan how to help those affected by the pandemic in a sustainable manner; it cannot just hand out cash.
Members of the private sector, meanwhile, should work together to help people, and should not compete against one another. There are many areas where they can step in and offer a helping hand. For example, AIS has already helped 31 field hospitals and is been planning to help more. Yet, there are still many other field hospitals to which its competitors can reach out.
Somchai insists that big corporations should abandon the “Big Fish Eats Small Fish” concept and pursue a “Big Fish Helps Small Fish” philosophy instead. He says his company really hopes that every organization will play a role in helping small operators. For its part, AIS intends to remedy small businesses by offering useful packages that best suit their situations.
“People, for their part, should not simply wait for help from the government and big corporations. Everyone must adapt and skimp. Do not spoil yourself. Small operators must focus on their core business and keep themselves afloat. Everyone should improve themselves, use technologies for enhanced efficiency, and lower their living expenses. Along this journey, AIS will be on hand with sold dedication to providing connectivity and helping out through our network,” Somchai says.
COVID-19 has hit every organization. AIS is also affected. Right after the third wave of COVID-19 began, AIS told all of its staff to work from home. This happened before the government called on all Thais to Work from Home. Only a few AIS staff leave their homes to work these days. Among them are employees at the Network Operations Center and teams dispatched for on-site installations. Such staff are given extra protection while their productivity remains the same. In fact, AIS has taken up more missions, for example, by installing network equipment at field hospitals. For its staff, AIS has now set aside Bt50 million to pay for staff vaccinations. Vaccines will be administered on a voluntary basis only.
“We hope that this crisis will end in the second quarter, so that Thailand can recover and grow in the third quarter,” Somchai concludes.
