By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines
July 5, 2010

A homegrown open-source system for encoding and transmitting electronic health records (EHR) has recently been piloted by several public and private sector groups in the province of Tarlac, aiming to improve healthcare in the country through the use of technology.

The Wireless Access for Health project works by allowing health workers to input relevant patient information through an open-source system, where data can be automatically transmitted to municipal and provincial health offices through 3G wireless broadband for safekeeping, among other purposes.

The project, part of wireless communications provider Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach initiative, is a collaborative effort between the provincial government of Tarlac, the University of the Philippines Manila – National Telehealth Center (NTC), RTI International, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and local telecommunications provider Smart Communications, Inc.

The project is an offshoot of the existing Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS), an open-source system developed by UP Manila – NTC at least five to six years ago. It is one of very few free and open-source EHR systems in the world, which, according to the project proponents, have seen adoption in other countries as well.

The new system solves the problem of inefficient reporting methods of rural health officers, who made do with logging patient information by hand because of the absence of an automated system.

“With the new system, the pushed data are already compliant with the format required by the Department of Health,” explained Dr. Ricardo Ramos, chief of Tarlac’s provincial health unit. “Doctors and health officers will now have more time to attend to their patients.”

In addition, the old system required the health officers to deliver the records to the municipal health offices by foot, taking their personal time off of them. “The new system doesn’t just capture data, it also helps workers do their work better,” said Mike McKay, technical advisor, RTI International.

On a governance standpoint, the electronic data can be used by the provincial government to see the pertinent cases in their jurisdiction, and the requirements of their health offices. “We can look at the data, log, see if insurance is needed by our constituents, all in accordance with our programs in government,” reiterated Victor Yap, governor of the province of Tarlac.

Project partner Smart Communications, Inc., said their company has been looking for applications of telecommunications technology to healthcare for so many years now. “Health resources in the Philippines are very scarce,” related Ramon Isberto, head of public affairs division, Smart.

Isberto said one way to maximize the country’s minimal resources is through ICT and telecommunications, which promises to deliver the maximum benefits to the people. “This project is the start of automating public health care in the country,” he added.

Other supporters of the project are the Department of Health, HealthGov, Tarlac State University and the rural health units of the municipalities of Victoria, Moncada, Paniqui and Gerona.

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