Intelligent system makes vaccinations quicker, safer and smarter
Editor's note:
Information technology, artificial intelligence and big data are playing increasingly significant roles in health care. This series on many sectors of the health industry is intended to demonstrate the role of advanced technology, intelligent systems and new inventions.
Shot by Dong Jun. Edited by Dong Jun. Subtitles by Cai Wenjun.
An intelligent medical system is making vaccination management more efficient, safer and smarter in Shanghai.
The city's neighborhood health centers kicked off a trial recently by introducing a new intelligent vaccine management and distribution system, which covers the entire process of vaccine storage, transportation, use and checks automatically, greatly saving manpower and reducing the risk of mistakes to the largest extent possible.
The Huamu Neighborhood Health Center was the first in the Pudong New Area to introduce the intelligent system. Since its launch on October 8, medical staff say they have fully enjoyed the convenience, efficiency and drug safety brought by smart medicine.
Vaccines are piled in order before being sent to the vaccination desk through the system.
"Previously, the practice was 'medics looking for vaccines'," said Wang Ping, who is in charge of vaccinations at the health center.
Each morning, medics would arrive earlier to take a batch of vaccines from the warehouse based on their daily workload to the small refrigerator on each vaccination desk. Since the fridge is small, a medic usually had to go to the warehouse for vaccine refilling three to four times during each shift.
The vaccine is delivered automatically through the racks.
On receiving a patient, the medics looked for the right vaccine from the dozens of packs in the refrigerator. The process was time-consuming and could result in choosing the wrong vaccine, since each disease vaccine comes in several brands from many producers and also different batches. The medics had to take the exact vaccine in line with the prescription. If a wrong vaccine was picked, the scanning machine would alert the medic, who then had to look for the right vaccine in the fridge again.
"After finishing the entire day's work, we also had to check the storage manually," Wang noted.
A medic extracts vaccine for injection, while the screen shows the real-time condition of vaccine use and temperature of the system.
Medics said the labor involved in the above vaccine process and related issues no longer exist, thanks to the smart vaccination management system, which has a mechanical arm to take the vaccine from the storage directly and send the vaccine to the right window through the rack to the exact vaccination desk.
The medic just needs to click the button on the screen to call for the system, while the entire process is shown on the screen for real-time monitoring and inspection.
The risk of choosing a wrong vaccine is completed prevented as the system automatically takes the vaccine on receiving the order from the headquarters based on a doctor's prescription and arrangement. The medic just needs to scan the bar code on the package for double check and registration.
"There have been no mistakes so far," Wang observed.
"Moreover, the vaccine is kept under cold chain during the whole process, ensuring vaccination quality and safety," she added. "After one-day work, the system can do storage checks by itself and provide alerts if the stock of vaccines is low."
Hua Li, a medic at the health center, said that the routine trouble of looking for vaccines from the refrigerator and refilling vaccines from the warehouse has been relieved.
"My efficiency has greatly improved and the risk of taking the wrong vaccine is also nullified," she pointed out. "Patients are more satisfied as well."
A child receives vaccination at the Huamu Neighborhood Health Center in the Pudong New Area.
