Singapore’s healthcare system faces a hospital bed shortage exacerbated by an aging population. Mobile Inpatient Care-at-Home (MIC@Home) offers a solution by allowing stable patients to recover at home, reducing strain on hospital resources. Its implementation across major hospitals shows promise in addressing the bed crunch effectively. However, nurses who deliver care for patients under MIC@Home tend to overpack for each home visit because they are unsure about the medical supplies they need to bring for the patients, and find it tedious to look through group chats to find relevant information about the patients. They also do not have enough space for procedures during home visits, thus having to make do with whatever they have.

To address these problems, we designed a healthcare utility box system (HUB) that streamlines patient care information through cloud communication to enhance patient care and enabling real-time inventory management of medical supplies. A HUB cabinet is packed and delivered to a patient’s home by a third party logistics vendor, with inventory in the cabinet kept up-to-date through a cloud database and RFID identification. Nurses can access this data via an app on their phones. The HUB cabinet also provides an adjustable work area and an intravenous drip hook so that nurses can treat their patients in an effective and convenient manner.