3G wireless technology enables more responsive health care systems

The Philippine Department of Health, Tarlac Provincial Health Office and Qualcomm Incorporated, through its Wireless Reach initiative, announced the successful completion of the Wireless Access for Health project’s pilot phase.

The project participants leveraged their expertise and resources in public health, medical care, technology and training to create an electronic health record system that meets the needs of health care decision makers on varying levels, ranging from midwives to doctors to policy makers.
Results at the conclusion of the pilot phase, which recorded over 12,000 patient consultations, indicate that such a system is not only feasible and improves patient care in rural health clinics, but also has a real impact for decision makers.
Wireless Access for Health utilizes 3G wireless technology to enable a locally developed electronic health record system. In the Philippines, local health care providers compile and report public health data to the Field Health Service Information System (FHSIS), which is the major source of data used for policy analysis and planning.

The Wireless Access for Health project aims to streamline this reporting process by building on and strengthening the existing Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS), an electronic medical record system developed by the University of the Philippines Manila. CHITS improves patient care and access to public health information by consolidating data captured during patient visits into reports for health care workers in four health units in the Tarlac region of the Philippines.

“The Wireless Access for Health project’s electronic health record system is the appropriate response to the DOH’s need for finding innovative ways of transmitting reliable health data to allow for speedier decision making and action,” said Dr. Esperanza Cabral, secretary of the Department of Health in the Philippines.

The pilot project’s results have been positive at the rural health units in Gerona, Moncada, Paniqui and Victoria.

A process that previously took hours to complete, CHITS now can instantly generate all 23 of the DOH’s FHSIS reports, allowing for improved patient care and more efficient patient visits, as the time needed to search for records is reduced to just seconds.

The ability to easily view, record and share patient information simultaneously across multiple computers within a health clinic allows clinicians to complete patient consultations earlier, resulting in increased capacity to provide further support to community health workers.

“Wireless Access for Health is truly beneficial for the entire public health system, from patients to doctors to health care authorities at the local, regional and national level,” stated Dr. Ricardo P. Ramos, chief of Tarlac provincial health unit.

“The system’s accurate and timely submission of health data is important in helping the government to identify and prevent disease outbreaks across the Philippines.”

Source @ MB