Healthcare data for Taiwan shows that the current nurse-to-patient ratio (the total number of patients a nurse needs to look after on each shift) is 1:6-13. As the population of Taiwan has also been aging in recent years, elderly people now account for 10.7% of the total population. In order to improve Taiwan's healthcare, MedicusTek has developed a bed care system with the help and support of the MOEA's Key Industry Team. It is hoped that this system can reduce the burden placed on healthcare workers.
With healthcare expenditures reaching $2.8 trillion annually and accounting for 18% of GDP, the healthcare industry in the U.S. is nine times larger than the global semiconductor industry. As Medicare in the U.S. does not provide for care mishaps such as patient falls or bedsores (leaving it to the hospitals themselves to cover), MedicusTek is working to prevent such injuries and ailments. The company has combined the concepts behind the IoT and Big Data to develop a smart mattress and mathematical calculation method that improves the speed at which resources are integrated into their production line.
When MedicusTek was first established, it invested all of its resources in R&D. This meant that it therefore lacked the workforce and capital required to invest in hardware and software. With the help of the MOEA's Key Industry Team, resources from the NanKang IC Design Incubation Center were brought in to provide a complete IT support service, equipment for a server room with a 24-hour uninterrupted power supply, and a private local area network. This helped protect the company's data and ensure that the connection was never lost, thereby greatly reducing the investment in IT hardware and software start-ups must usually make.
MedicusTek has since gone on to pass certifications conducted by Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration, as well as becoming Class-I registered with the U.S. FDA. Clinical trials have also been passed with outstanding results in both Taiwan and the U.S., including trials at over 150 Kaiser Permanente medical facilities across the U.S. and at the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center and the Landseed Hospital in Taiwan. Devices are also undergoing trials through collaborations with well-known long-term care organizations under the assistance of the NanKang IC Design Incubation Center, which is part of the MOEA's Industrial Development Bureau. The Key Industry Team will continue to support new SME start-ups in Taiwan by providing them with individual support at each stage of their development and creating the entrepreneurial environment required to allow them to grow. This will allow up-and-coming enterprises to both remain stable and flourish, thereby creating a new period of prosperity for Taiwanese industry.