Through the partnership initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) together with the National Telehealth Center, UP Diliman College of Engineering, Advanced Science and Technology Institute, and the Department of Health (DOH), the RxBox aims to deploy the RxBox units in the remote areas across the country through a project called “Roll-out of 1000 RxBox Telehealth Device in Selected Rural Health Centers in the Philippines”. This initiative is one among DOST’s efforts for a “Smarter Philippines.”
RxBox – “Real Life Experience in a Box”
The RxBox is a multi-component program that can capture real-time electronic health data from the patients. It contains an electronic tablet connected to the medical apparatuses like the Blood Pressure Monitor, Pulse Oximeter, Electrocardiogram (ECG), Maternal Tocometer, Fetal Doppler and Temperature Sensor. The tablet is programmed to collect electronic health data from the built-in medical sensors attached to the apparatuses. The simplified data immediately appears on the screen of the e-tablet once a patient is being examined through the apparatus, hence the real life experience.
Modernizing the health information system
More than its capacity to gather electronic health data from the patients, the RxBox technology has also introduced a novelty on the health information gathering system in rural and remote areas through a paperless medical record system. Once a patient has been examined, the real-time health data automatically stores in the information database of every patient through the program’s electronic medical record system, the Community Health Information Tracking System or CHITS.
Aside from providing a rich health information database, the system also allows the healthcare workers to instantly send the patient’s health information to health care specialists across the country when the need arises for any further expert advice.
The CHITS model pioneers in the advancement of health information system in areas that are hardly reached by nurses, medical doctors and other medical specialists. Through providing easy access to specialists, better patient care and reduction of costs will be achieved in the long run.
RxBox in Caraga
A total of 55 RxBox units are scheduled for deployment to 52 remote areas all over the region. Municipal Health Officers, Nurses, Midwife and IT Staff who works at the municipalities of these areas will be trained on the operations and management of the RxBox unit prior to its deployment. The areas prioritized will be given one RxBox unit, an additional central processing unit (CPU) and an internet router for the transmission of health data to healthcare experts.
Together with the Department of Health Caraga, the project has already conducted an orientation to the Provincial Health Officers. The RxBox team of Caraga gained a positive response and an all-out support from the local government units across the reigion. The Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Health continues to work hand-in-hand in its aspiration to promote a healthier Caraga.
Five health technologies that will greatly improve the delivery of public health services have been developed in the Philippines in the past year, and will see widespread use throughout the country this year, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said.
The Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD), the national coordinating body for health research, said the five technologies developed with DOST support are making a difference in local healthcare delivery.
Lower cost knee replacement
Funded by DOST-PCHRD and developed by Orthopedic International, Inc. the Axis Knee System is touted as the first and only knee system designed in the Asean region which allows access to knee replacement for lower-income patients, as the system reduces the costs of the procedure and prosthetic parts by as much as 40 to 50 percent compared with existing systems.
A large part of the cost savings, DOST-PCHRD pointed out, is in the system’s innovative instrumentation and surgical technique, which reduces the training time necessary for surgeons to be qualified to perform knee replacement surgeries. Under existing systems, the necessary training typically requires the doctor to undertake a one-year fellowship or residency program.
Internet-based health data
The RxBox is a device that captures medical signals through built-in sensors, stores data in an electronic medical record (EMR), and transmits health information via the internet.
Jointly developed by the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman and Manila, the device reduces unnecessary travel and hospitalizations as it enables diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of patients from geographically isolated and depressed areas of the country, DOST-PCHRD explained.
The Department of Health (DOH) separately lauded the RxBox as an innovation that supports its call for universal health care, as it offers a remote diagnosis tool for doctors and patients.
Better local health policies
The eHealth TABLET for Informed Decision Making of LGUs (eHATID LGU) is an Android application developed by Ateneo De Manila University, which provides real-time health information and a facility for direct communication between local chief executives and rural health units (RHUs), which are often isolated from government centers.
The device works securely even in the absence of an internet connection, and is intended to provide decision-making support to local government units (LGUs) by providing real-time local health data.
All the eHATID LGU data are synced to a central database via the government cloud facilities of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI), which provides a national-level pool of data.
Cheaper dengue test
Biotek-M, a dengue test kit developed by the UP Manila National Institutes of Health Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, is a confirmatory test for dengue diagnosis, which the DOST-PCHRD said is as accurate as the currently available Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology, yet less expensive as it is locally produced.
The kit is designed to provide a rapid diagnosis of suspected dengue cases, which saves hospitals time and resources and can reduce the number of hospital admittances.
The development of Biotek-M was funded by the University of the Philippines System thru the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-TECHNICOM.
Simple dengue control
The mosquito ovicidal/larvicidal trap (OL Trap) is a simple vector control method to reduce the population of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the carrier of dengue, Zika, and malaria viruses.
The simple trap, which essentially consists of a cup containing an organic solution, works by attracting the A. aegypti to lay its eggs, which are then killed by the solution. The OL Trap was developed by the DOST-Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI).
The DOST and the DOH are already collaborating for the nationwide distribution of the OL Traps, DOST-PCHRD said.
The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) this month to further strengthen tuberculosis (TB) research in the country.
The DOST-PCHR is also eyeing for the possible establishment of the Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT) Consortium here.
The RePORT Consortium is an initiative to streamline TB research globally by providing a platform for standardized data management.
Countries such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia have already established this initiative.
According to Peter Kim, deputy director, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, US NIH, the RePORT Consortium establishes a formal platform for multicultural research partnerships where researchers perform same data collection and analysis methods to easily validate TB research data.
A tool for data harmonization is vital in linking researchers facilitate merging and compatibility of TB data.
DOST has also signified its full support in TB mitigation through research. “Research collaborations like RePORT would enable local researchers to upgrade their research capacities and contribute to the fight against tuberculosis,” said DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara.
For his part, PCHRD Director Jaime Montoya also said the Council will always be in coordination with partners in health to continuously provide research opportunities to prevent and control the prevalence of TB and other diseases.
Meanwhile, a business meeting was attended by the PCHRD and US NIH last month to discuss the research opportunities once the RePORT Consortium is established in the Philippines.
Stakeholders from the academe, hospitals, national government agencies, TB research societies also participated in the discussion.(PNA)
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DOST launches InfoSerbilis on agency services
MANILA, Jan. 23 (PIA) – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has launched a communication campaign aimed to create a unified information delivery service that would improve the services of its attached agencies.
Dubbed as “DOST InfoSerbilis,” the project would employ strategies such as an interactive information kiosk at every agency; an online one-stop portal; the development of print materials such as a general guidebook, directories, brochures, and maps; and video tutorials, among others. It was launched at the Philippine Science Heritage Center auditorium in Bicutan, Taguig City recently.
“Someday, each DOST agency will have an information kiosk containing information on all basic DOST services. At the same time, an online one-stop portal will be available where services offered by all DOST agencies will be searchable. Plus, guidebooks, directories, brochures, and maps will be available as well,” Information Resources and Analysis Division Chief Alan V. Taule said.
“With all these tools, DOST information officers and the rest of the workforce will be more responsive and accurate when responding to inquiries about DOST services whether or not the inquiry is about their own agency’s products and services,” Taule said.
“The quick response is expected to lead to a higher level of client satisfaction and trust for DOST,” he added.
The project was conceptualized by a group of Master of Science Development Communication students from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) comprised of DOST information officers on scholarship under the DOST-Human Resource Development Program.
The team is composed of Salvador R. Serrano (team leader, FNRI), Haziel May C. Natorilla (STII); Ullyann C. Garcia (PCHRD; Charyl C. Apuyan (NAST); Mary Charlotte O. Fresco, George Robert E. Valencia III, and Ma. Estrella B. Valle (NRCP); and Ana Ciaren H. Itulid (PCHRD).
“I am certain that many, if not all, DOST agencies have their own respective initiatives to highlight the importance of science to the Filipino public. So I feel that the time is right for us to harmonize and converge these efforts into a comprehensive package,” Taule said.
“We need knowledge workers,” he added. “The important thing here is knowledge at the moment of value. So we must be organizationally able to deliver such services,” he added. (DOST/RJB/JCP/PIA-NCR)
The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) this month to further strengthen tuberculosis (TB) research in the country.
The DOST-PCHR is also eyeing for the possible establishment of the Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT) Consortium here.
The RePORT Consortium is an initiative to streamline TB research globally by providing a platform for standardized data management.
Countries such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia have already established this initiative.
According to Peter Kim, deputy director, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, US NIH, the RePORT Consortium establishes a formal platform for multicultural research partnerships where researchers perform same data collection and analysis methods to easily validate TB research data.
A tool for data harmonization is vital in linking researchers facilitate merging and compatibility of TB data.
DOST has also signified its full support in TB mitigation through research. “Research collaborations like RePORT would enable local researchers to upgrade their research capacities and contribute to the fight against tuberculosis,” said DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara.
For his part, PCHRD Director Jaime Montoya also said the Council will always be in coordination with partners in health to continuously provide research opportunities to prevent and control the prevalence of TB and other diseases.
Meanwhile, a business meeting was attended by the PCHRD and US NIH last month to discuss the research opportunities once the RePORT Consortium is established in the Philippines.
Stakeholders from the academe, hospitals, national government agencies, TB research societies also participated in the discussion.(PNA)