Bangkok Hospital Group Chiang Mai

Hello everyone,

This past week we visited a private hospital in Chiang Mai. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences, as Private hospitals are much more advanced than public hospitals in Thailand. As we walked through the front door, it seemed more like a hotel lobby than a hospital. All of the staff were wearing clean, solid color uniforms. There was even someone playing a piano!

The pharmacy was made up of multiple departments. There was the inpatient pharmacy department.

They organized their shelves using numbers and letters and medications were grouped together based on indication and form of drug. The letter and number of the drug was indicated on the label, making it easier for technicians/assistants to find the drug. They would then make sure it was the correct drug by comparing it to the label. They also had locked boxes that were put together for different departments, since many necessary drugs are not available on the floors/wards like in the U.S. Above on the left is a locked box for cardiac cath. This pharmacy also had all of their psychotropic and flammable drugs locked in these cabinets (above right).

Their med rooms have bins/boxes for each room. They have very few medications available on the ward. This is a picture of the med room for the ICU so they have more than many other wards in the hospital.

They have code carts as well, which are similar to ours, but did not contain quite as much.

They made some of their own IVs including high concentrations and nutrition items, such as TPNs. Similar to our tubing system, they had "elevators" for medication (below right).

As I have mentioned before, the private hospitals are much better than the public hospitals in Thailand. The private hospitals have a higher focus on hospitality and make that one of the goals of care for their patients. The pictures below are of a VIP suite at the Chiang Mai Hospital. This consists of two rooms connected by a door. Both rooms have a bathroom and a kitchenette area. The rooms are overlooking the garden. The cost to stay one night in this suite is 9000 TBH, equivalent to about 250 US dollars.

They have another inpatient pharmacy that is dedicated mostly to just antineoplastic medications, including an IV room for chemotherapy drugs.

They have to outpatient pharmacies. One is mostly pediatric and OB/GYN based, while the other one is more general.

The staff at this hospital, similar to some others, were very eager to hear not only our opinions, but also our suggestions. They are constantly trying to make the hospital better and more similar to hospitals in the United States. With their computer system, ordering, approving, and administering medications, this was probably the most similar hospital we have seen to our hospitals in the U.S.

With only about a week left in Thailand, I excited to see what else is in store for us!

Thank you for reading our blog posts!

Sara