DOCPH: Telemedicine against Covid-19
IN response to the national health emergency declaration by President Rodrigo Duterte because of the coronavirus disease 2019 ( Covid- 19) pandemic, a free humanitarian health care service through high technology called telemedicine is being prepared by the of League of Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Advocates of the Philippines ( LeaDCAP) for the use of medical doctors nationwide. This is in collaboration with leading healthcare groups of medical professionals, particularly the Philippine Medical Association ( PMA).
LeaDCAP Vice President Dr. Leo Olarte, who is also the past president of the PMA, shared with me their mission in helping ease up the huge number of patients flocking our overwhelmed hospitals and clinics by using the state- of- the- art system called Digital Online Consultation for our People’s Healthcare (DOCPH). Such unified response, he relayed, also aims to reach out to patients with other illnesses ( non- Covid19) during the quarantine period, when everybody seems to be focused only on the battle against an invisible virus.
The word telemedicine was coined in the 1970s. The World Health Organization ( WHO) in 2010 defined telemedicine as the delivery of healthcare services, in which distance is a critical factor, by all healthcare professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, as well as research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.
With DOCPH, Olarte revealed that, through technology, it is now possible to provide free online healthcare consultations directly to our people who are now quarantined in the comfort of their respective homes. This project aims to decongest our country’s overheating healthcare system so that it can again efficiently serve not only Covid-19 patients, but also treat equally important ailments or cases that are not related to the disease.
When asked about the testing of DOCPH, Olarte said he had coordinated with Dr. Benito Atienza, PMA vice president, for its successful closelevel run or beta test through the special participation of a selected group of PMA doctors and provincial/municipal health offices of Batangas. He added that it was also tested separately at the Philippine Coast Guard and at hospitals, the frontline doctors of which are members of the Far Eastern University-Narciso Reyes Medical Foundation’s Beta Sigma Fraternity Alumni Association.
Very critical in this telemedicine project is the issuance of doctor’s electronic prescription (e-Rx).
As regards e- Rx, the Food and Drug Administration issued the landmark Circular 2020- 007 on March 17 authorizing for the first time the use of e-Rx. The circular aims to achieve the following: ensure access to prescription medicines and maintenance drugs for all individuals vulnerable to Covid-19 through the use of electronic means or electronic prescription; ensure efficient and effective process for e- Rx of drugs; and provide guidelines on how to dispense prescription drugs based on the e- Rx issued by licensed physician.
What about compliance with Republic Act 10173, or the “Data Privacy Act of 2012,” Olarte said their data protection officer had ensured that their data privacy guidelines were being followed by their volunteer doctors. He noted that they would ensure full confidentiality of all the personal information of the patients.
Last week, Olarte said they had initial talks with the Department of Health ( DoH) Assistant Secretary Dr. Eric Tayag about the PMA’s desire to work with the DoH regarding this initiative. Talks were also opened last week with Department of the Interior and Local Government ( DILG) Undersecretary Martin Diño who oversees the DILG Barangay Affairs Bureau. The discussion centered on how DOCPH could support the DILG’s Barangay Health Emergency Response Team ( Bhert) that situated in more than 42,000 barangay ( villages) nationwide. The Bhert is involved in responding to Covid-19 cases, but they don’t have medical doctors permanently stationed in every barangay, hence telemedicine would be the best alternative. In this regard, PMA in principle can provide free
“virtual” doctors to barangay during the Covid- 19 crisis.
PMA Vice President Dr. Benito Atienza said the PMA had a pool of 83,000 strong medical doctors spread out nationwide. Membership is basically distributed based on their geographic locations (called component societies) and on their specialization (called specialty societies). Currently, there is a group of 10,000 medical doctors who already approached Atienza and offered to become volunteers against Covid-19.
Aside from the PMA and other partners in the program, Olarte and his group are currently talking with the group of Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao,who also committed to help the DOCPH project by appealing for crucial support from government and private sectors, local and international institutions. The good senator relayed his statement:
“When I came to know the noble purpose of this project, I decided to help.
“There is now a temporary shortage of healthcare personnel [ in hospitals] because a lot of them either got infected or forced to go on quarantine due to exposure to a Covid- infected patients. The DoH is publicly appealing for volunteers to man [ the] frontliners’ jobs. The number of available medical ventilators [ that hospitals use to save a life] suddenly are not enough anymore. Personal protective equipment, facemasks, alcohol and others are badly needed to protect frontliners from the virus [ and these] are running low in supply too.
“Major private hospitals are declaring full capacity due to the large volume of patients seeking confinement. These hospitals are asking patients to look for other available hospitals for confinement.
“The country’s healthcare system is overwhelmed. We need to decongest it.
“A non- physical contact telemedicine project done by professionals nationwide can help.
“I salute those who are involved in this initiative.”
Finally, Olarte said: “The DOCPH project will only be possible because of the pure and patriotic heart of our various healthcare professionals nationwide supported by the generosity of a pool of experts belonging to LeaDCAP who provided not only the free infrastructure, technology and technical services for the project. All of these are dedicated for the love of God and country.”
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