published : 23 Feb 2021 at 18:50
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The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has introduced new services in BMA-run hospitals to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang said the BMA was launching The New Normal Health Service to ease overcrowding in BMA-run hospitals, a factor that had led to the virus spreading among patients and health workers.
Four million out-patients and 100,000 in-patients use the BMA s hospitals each year.
Mr Aswin said the new normal services were telemedicine to allow remote communication and diagnosis between doctors and patients plus blood testing at home and delivering prescription medicines at drug stores near patients homes or even with the help of postal couriers.
The National Health Security Office (NHSO), in collaboration with Krungthai Bank, has developed a system to enable people aged 65 years and over to reserve a flu shot and schedule their vaccination appointment on the "Pao Tang" app.
Thailand's Universal Healthcare adds Smart ID tech thethaiger.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thethaiger.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Subscribers to the state s universal healthcare programme will be required to provide smart ID cards to verify their identity when receiving services at participating clinics and hospitals in Bangkok from Jan 1 next year.
However, Sakchai Kanjanawatana, secretary-general of the National Health Security Office (NHSO), said the use of smart ID cards in conjunction with the healthcare, or gold card , scheme, as part of the verification will apply in the capital only.
He said that the updated verification process is aimed at preventing fraud by those who are not covered by the universal healthcare scheme, and a pilot test of the new system by the navy-run Somdech Phra Pinklao Hospital and BTU-Medical Dental Clinic had proved successful.