(MENAFN - Arab News) Health care providers should make use of the latest technology in patient care to enhance their services and to avoid human errors, Graeme Robertson, global business development director of health care solutions of Schneider Electric, said Saturday.
"Designing the correct technology infrastructure in health care facilities allows hospitals to improve patient care and staff productivity as well as achieve significant saving over standard design practice," Robertson said during his presentation at the Second Patients Relations Symposium, which was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Riyadh on Nov. 24-25.
Robertson said the state-of-the-art facilities would create a healing environment for the patients in hospital. He said sensing and communication technology, if properly applied, could avoid human errors that could have fatal consequences.
He said Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, had showcased its 20-year leadership in the health care sector at the two-day symposium through featuring its range of innovative solutions, including EcoStruxure, which helps improve or build an efficient hospital.
Held under the aegis of the Ministry of Health, the meeting attracted representatives and decision makers from the global and local medical sectors.
The symposium offered health care stakeholders a focused platform for discussion and knowledge sharing on the latest developments in the region's health care industry. The event examined topics such as patient relations and management of challenges in the sector.
In its role as a platinum sponsor, Schneider Electric offered insight into how integrated hospital solutions could improve margins by up to 30 percent. Intelligent solutions such as EcoStruxure help achieve energy efficiency, mitigate risks of electrical incidents with advanced power management, reduce hospital-acquired infections with environmental controls, and secure the pulse of a hospital with integrated security solutions.
This in turn leads to a reduction in operating costs and enables surplus resources to be reallocated directly to new programs for patient services.
Schneider Electric also offered a case study of health care facilities at Riyadh National Hospital, which has implemented a power and electrical distribution solution, a building management and operation room security system to the bed head units, and critical power supply solutions.
The hospital is expected to register a marked increase in performance through providing patients with an efficient, safe and reliable environment. "Saudi Arabia is engaged in reforms, which must be continued to face the new challenges and the growing expectations of its population. The government's continued investment ensures that these high standards are maintained. There are, however, many obstacles and overlooked opportunities, and this symposium provides the perfect arena for experts across the region to create a patient relations excellence road map for the future," Fabien Faure, health care series director at Naseba, said.
In a paper presented on Sunday, Abdullah bin Zarah, executive director of clinical affairs and director of business development at Sultan bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City, said: "If we want to empower our patients, they need to be fully informed of their prerogative to choose the best treatment for their illness. We need our patients to take responsibility in helping health care providers assist them to achieve their medical plan goals."
Abdullah led the discussions surrounding the major obstacles and opportunities in patient relations and other health care issues in the Kingdom on the second day of the symposium yesterday.
The benefits of how automation can free up time for better patient care was also discussed in-depth at the summit. "A recent study in Europe in a 500-bed hospital has shown that our Automated Vital Signs Monitoring System is saving up to 4,000 hours of nurse time a year, which could benefit patients tremendously," said Pascal Gand from Welch Allyn, one of the summit's gold sponsors.
"Avoiding manual transcription gives the medical team the right information at the right time to make an informed decision on patients' treatment," he noted.
