by Christopher Cornue

At the ISQua Annual Meeting I attended in October, we heard from leaders in Thailand about the Bumrungrad International Hospital, in Bangkok. Its evolving “state-of-the-art” facility is in the process of being converted. This hospital, which has over 1,000,000 patients per year (a third of which are from outside of Thailand) and serves 150 nationalities, is creating family & patient-centered private rooms, similar to those VIP rooms in major academic medical centers and some hospitals ststeside.

This type of room is quickly becoming the standard in an emerging and booming economy of medical tourism. Each of the rooms will have dedicated family space (for family members to live during their loved one’s stay), a kitchenette, all “hospital-looking” items (e.g., drapes, supplies, oxygen, etc.) will be hidden, and a top-notch entertainment system (e.g., 1,000 satellite music stations, hundreds of international tv channels, on-demand movies, wi-fi, i-Pod connection, etc.) will be provided. Their driving forces for creating these individual rooms over the next 18 months are:

•Provide patients a sense of control;
•Allow for family involvement;
•Provide for caregivers at the bedside;
•Create a sense of privacy and confidentiality;
•Develop a patient-centered model of care;
•Encourage a quiet and comfortable environment.

It’s amazing to see and while this is becoming a reality in Thailand (and some other hospitals internationally), it’s most likely several years off before becoming the norm within the industry.