The “George Emil Palade” hospital in Târgu Mures will become the first SMART hospital in Romania. In theory, the medical unit is part of a larger project, a pilot project for the complete digitization of the Romanian health system. The decision can be found in a MEMORANDUM with the theme “Operationalization of Completely Intelligent Hospitals in Romania – Pilot for the Integral Digitization of the Health System”, approved in the last meeting by the Government.
The Ministry of Health is allocating over 400 million euros for the digitization of the medical system
The “George Emil Palade” Hospital in Târgu Mureş is subordinate to the “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology.
“Why were we chosen? Because it met all the conditionsProf. Dr. Leonard Azamfirei, rector of the University, explained to “Adevărul”. “The hospital is under construction, it is a new hospital that meets all international standards. It is a university hospital and it is the place where the medical activity component is put together, with the university and post-graduate training part, including residency, and with the research part. Then, this hospital is a University hospital, where highly performing study programs operate in fields related to the medical area: engineering and medical informatics. In other words, it is a place where the human resource is very easy to access, and there is also the necessary infrastructure to support such a digital implementation”the rector of Azamfira also specified.
This is what the smart hospital in Târgu Mureș will look like. Source: facebook
What technology will the SMART hospital be equipped with?
Construction work on the hospital has already begun, with the completion date being the end of 2025, the beginning of 2026. “It is a relatively short term for the construction of a hospital from scratch, but still enough”, considers the rector. “Things are moving in parallel in the sense that the building will support the digitized component, which could not have been implemented in an already existing building.
Basically, the project of the new building is designed in such a way that it supports everything that means digitized system, new technique and advanced technology.
“The electronic patient record, a centralized model of electronic storage of medical information, will be implemented. Then, the integrated concept of telemedicine will no longer be just a concept but a reality. Through this system, we will ensure the provision of remote medical services, without the simultaneous physical presence of the medical staff and the patient, for diagnosis, treatment, disease monitoring or disease prevention. Then we will have automation and robotics to optimize medical and administrative processes, integrated resource management systems, Big Data and predictive analytics, for analyzing data collected from patients or other medical systems,” also explained the rector of “George Emil Palade” University from Târgu Mureș.
The hospital will operate with AI and Machine Learning technology to analyze medical data and support clinical decisions. Virtual and augmented reality will also be used in medical education or continuing education. “Last but not least, security and data protection systems will be implemented, as well as smart energy solutions and system interoperability.”
How much does the project cost? It is not yet known, it has not been established, Prof. Dr. Leonard Azamfirei explained to us. “We don’t have a cost estimate yet. After this MEMORANDUM has been approved, being an agreement in principle, a commitment from the Government, we will work on a design of this project that will, in the end, also have a budget. And after we have this budget, we will also see what the source of funding is. But there are two ministries involved here: the Ministry of Research and Digitization on the one hand and the Ministry of Health on the other.”
Rector of the “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology, Tg Mureș
Rector of Emil Palade University, Târgu Mureș: “It will increase the safety level of patients”
The digitization of the hospital, which will become the first smart hospital in Romania, will be a model of good practice, the rector also specified. “In the sense that there should be a unified approach at the level of hospitals in Romania, which means not only digitization, but also connectivity. I mean the connectivity of health facilities in the entire health system. This connectivity will have another very important benefit: we will have accurate information and data about the state of the health system, a fact that allows, subsequently, a certain predictability in the health policies that the Ministry of Health will think about”.
As far as the patients are concerned, they will benefit from a technology that is also of the last generation, which generates data that can be the basis of therapy algorithms that artificial intelligence already uses. “I would add here the fact that there is also a very important administrative component in such a SMART hospital. Practically, you know at any moment what is the administrative, including economic, status of the hospital, what is its sustainability from a financial point of view”.
Last but not least, the rector stated, such a hospital will increase the safety level of patients by eliminating papers and files. “All medical documentation will be in electronic format”.
What digitization means at the “Marie Curie” hospital: video surveillance and patients visited online
In order to understand even better what the digitalization of a medical unit means, we spoke with the representatives of a specialized company, which has implemented certain systems in several hospitals in Romania. Cristian Ceapa, sales director at Datanet Systems, came to “Adevărul” with some concrete examples.
“Ever since the pandemic, we have built the network of several hospitals in Bucharest and the country, and based on the support provided, both wire and wireless, we have provided videoconferencing solutions, for example. Practically, the doctors in the hospital can communicate, they can connect with those outside the hospital or with specialists from other fields related to the medical act”.
This communication system is extremely necessary for a quick, efficient and correct diagnosis, especially if we think about medical emergencies, when a patient’s life depends on the speed with which doctors communicate with each other, the specialist believes. He told us that digitization also means providing certain video surveillance solutions, which the company has implemented in the ATI departments of the Marie Curie hospital in Bucharest and Constanța, but also at the hospital in Mioveni. “Each bed is equipped with a video surveillance system that focuses on the patient but also on all the medical equipment to which that patient is connected. We are talking about an internal surveillance system, the images do not leave the hospital and are stored by the hospital. Those images end up on a video wall, a monitor placed at the reception, and doctors can watch in real time the condition of each patient”.
Moreover, these hospitals provide relatives with an online platform through which people can see their relatives admitted to the ATI wards. “The relative creates an account on this portal and, in a controlled and secure way, can visit their sick relative online between certain hours. Families usually have a hard time accessing ATI wards, and this platform meets their needs. Especially those from the province who cannot travel to Bucharest very often. And for that they only need to have access to a laptop or computer”.
In the age of the most advanced technology, we still write with pen on paper
The digitization of a hospital involves the elimination of papers and a more organized way of working. “There are a lot of applications that can be uploaded to the hospital server that can make the work of the staff extremely easy. You can think about the patient record, the allocation of medication to patients. Imagine how a doctor electronically orders certain drugs in the hospital pharmacy, they arrive at the patient’s bedside, and then the nurse ticks on a tablet or phone the time when that drug was administered. Think of all the processes that happen in a hospital and they are written down on paper, on cards, people still write with a pen. All this would disappear. I’m not talking about the medication itself allocated to patients. Depending on the treatments given to a patient in a given period of time, the hospital pharmacist might order new supplies for the next week or month. You will know what the real needs of the medical unit are. They will place orders ahead of time and the drugs will arrive on time“, explains the specialist.
Last but not least, digitalization also means the implementation of personal data protection systems, a very well developed security system to protect servers containing confidential information.
“These smart hospitals will modernize the medical infrastructure, improving the quality and efficiency of services and reducing administrative costs through digitization and automation. They will also facilitate access to telemedicine care for rural and disadvantaged areas, connecting family doctors with specialists from county hospitals or health institutions. At the same time, these hospitals will become research and innovation hubs, using big data and advanced algorithms to drive medical development.” Prof. Dr. Leonard Azamfirei, rector of the University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology “George Emil Palade” from Târgu Mureș, also specified.
