IDRC sits in at E-Lecture between National Telehealth Center and Basco, Batanes

On November 17, 2008 a lecture on Alcohol Abuse and Rehabilitation was given by Dr. Allan Dionisio of the National Poison Management and Control Center from UP-Manila to the Provincial Health Office, PNP, and other government employees and health workers about 800km away in Basco, Batanes. This lecture, an e-learning session aimed at improving health care at the grassroots level, is part of the telehealth program of the UP Manila National Telehealth Center in partnership with the province of Batanes. Using the free software, skype, Dr. Dionisio not only was able to deliver his lecture, but also had a lively question and answer interaction with the audience in Basco. This session is very appropriate since Batanes, with a an approximate population of 17000 is the number 2 consumer of gin nationwide.
While about 12 km from UP Manila, in the Telecommunication Office in Quezon City, at the pilot site of the eSkwela project of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), CICT director for field operations Maria Tess Camba, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada Program Manager (telecentre.org) Florencio Ceballos, OneRoof VP Miguel Raimilla and CICT and e-Skwela managers and learners observed Dr. Dionisio and the audience in Batanes again using the simple technology of the internet through skype. Prior to the lecture, Dr. HR Aujero, Coordinator for Field Operations of the National Telehealth Center introduced to the IDRC, CICT, and eSkwela representatives the initiatives of the National Telehealth Center. Assisted by Project Assistant Al Merca and Research Assistant Engr. Randy Fernandez, a three-point connection was established allowing all sites: National Telehealth Center- Basco, Batanes- Telof to see and interact with each other. Representatives from IDRC and CICT noted the innovative way of sharing knowledge using free software transcending limitations on location and limited connectivity. Afterwhich Mr. Ave Mejia presented the eSkwela project of the CICT which provides ICT-enhanced educational opportunities for out-of-school youths and adults.
Apart from e-learning, the National Telehealth Center, helps Batanes in patient care through e-medicine and in improving patient data management at the Rural Health Unit level through its e-records, CHITS (Community Health Information Tracking System)

NThC orients the new Doctors-to-the-Barrios (Batch 25) about Telehealth Initiatives

Another CHITS Training

October 16-17,2008

The National Telehealth Center conducted another CHITS training for healthcare professionals. The Center for Health Development4A has helped with the facilitation of the said event. It was the first CHITS training held at the Interactive Learning Center of UP Manila. The participants were health workers from Alfonso,Cavite and Real, Quezon.


October 16

The trainees got an introductory orientation of what CHITS is all about. The ever-promising "Cup Game" was again a crowd favorite. Grouped into 4 teams, each team slowly inched their way into building their own respective cup towers. The value of good data collection was emphasized through the cup game. In the afternoon, the 6 basic steps of CHITS were taught using a demo interface. Each of the participants is guided accordingly by the NThC staff.

October 17

Advanced modules of CHITS were introduced and explained into the context of the healthcare worker's work flow in the Rural Health Units. At the end of the training, the online CHITS evaluation tool was accessed and everyone had their own part in scrutinizing the training itself. Good thing that most of the response generated are positive and encouraging.

The Director Featured in Computer World Magazine

CHITS Training at NCC, UP Diliman

CHITS Level 0 Training at National Computer Center, UP Diliman

From left: Ms. Pia Athena Tolentino, RN, Alex I. Gavino, MD, Raymond Sarmiento, MD, Ms. Mercy Nicolas and Mr. Medel Herrera
Below: Ms. Alexandra Belle Bernal, RN

CHITS Training of QC-Barangay Health Workers in NCC

October 6, 2008
The National Telehealth Center conducted a Basic Computer training for CHITS at the National Computer Center.The highlight of the event is the " Cup Game". The Cup game signifies the role of each person in a team with regards to data collection. Each one in the group should be careful,well-coordinated and has a good sense of judgement in pulling and pushing their own yarns for the sake of building the cup tower together. The 5 major characteristics of good data were thoroughly emphasized such as complete,accurate,usable,readable and timely. The BHWs enjoyed the training even though most of them are not computer savvy.


October 10,2008
It is another day for the continuation of CHITS training of BHWs at NCC. The beginner's training was facilitated by Dr. Alex Gavino. The gist of the training was comprised of the 6 basic steps on CHITS. Each of the Barangay Health Workers was assisted step by step(thanks to Dr.Sarmiento, Nurse Xands and Pia). They were trained on how to navigate the CHITS web page and how to handle the patient's records. Most of them were grateful with their acquired computer skills. The training ended with the presentation of certificates and a humble feast.

NThC holds E-Health sessions during the 33rd CME of DttBs

September 30,2008- The second day of the 33rd CME of DttBs held at the Mac Arthur Beach Hotel and Resort was purely intended for the e-health session of the National Telehealth Center. Director Alvin Marcelo started the activity with his lecture on Ethical Issues in Medical Informatics. Common queries on the said topic were discussed and answered appropriately. Dr. Alex Gavino presented the Digital Camera and Teleradiology slides made by Dr. Gerardo Beltran. An interactive session on digital camera use was conducted and the Doctors-to-the-Barrios had a dose of basic digital photography lecture. Dr. Ryan Banez promoted their project-Diamonds on the Rough which acknowledges community doctors serving for 5 years in their respective communities. He also lectured about PubMed on Handheld devices.
Dr.Victoria Samonte- Domain Expert on Pediatrics started the afternoon session with a lecture on Common Childhood Illness. A lecture and workshop on Management of Common Surgical Cases was conducted by Dr. Marcelo. The day’s activity ended with the presentation of certificates to the speakers and the NThC team by the HHRDB.
The event was also an opportunity for the NThC to accept applications from DttBs for the UPMASA-DOH-DttB-UPM ICT Grant wherein a HP Mini-Note Laptop will be given to the deserving Doctor-to-the Barrios on their graduation day. The grant was funded by the UPMASA.

NThC gives talk to UP-SHS students

September 29,2008 - The NThC team conducted a lecture about the 3 major components of the National Telehealth Center. Dr. Alex Gavino discussed the e-Medicine component and the tele-referral system for the Doctors-to-the-Barrios assigned all over the Philippines while Nurse Alexandra Bernal explained the e-Learning component which the primary beneficiaries are the health care workers in the remote areas of the country. Lastly, Nurse Pia Tolentino presented the e-Records component which is mainly the CHITS project.
After the presentation, an open forum discussion was held. Most of the questions that came from the students are about accountability, privacy and ethical issues. The professors and other academicians asked on how they would benefit from the available services of the center specifically the e-learning or tele-mentoring sessions.

Baguio Pre-Centennial Dinner/MOC Signing for CHITS

Last September 1,2008, the Baguio City Government has launched its Pre-Centennial Program with the theme "Fostering a Culture of Caring". In line with this theme, the Baguio Centennial Commission has decided to consider CHITS as one of its pioneer project for Health.

Dr. Alex Gavino and Dr. Francis Sarmiento took the opportunity to advocate the implementation of CHITS by signing a memorandum of commitment between the Baguio Centennial Commission and the National Telehealth Center. Simultaneous with the signing of MOC, a gala dinner was held and we took the chance to converse with different stakeholders.Most of the delegates showed great interest over the project and they are more than willing to help out for the development and implementation of CHITS in Baguio. Hopefully this move will spearhead the promotion of CHITS within Northern Luzon.

National Telehealth Center takes part in DOH's Violence and Injury Prevention Program

In light of the disturbing issue on the rising statistics on violence and injuries, the Department of Health issued AO 2007-0010, a National Policy on Violence and Injury Prevention. To create an effective program, the DOH gathered various stakeholders to a “Writeshop/Consultative Meeting to Develop a Comprehensive Strategic and Integrated Plan for Violence and Injury Prevention Program”.

The writeshop was held in Bayview Hotel in Manila on August 19-20, 2008 and the various stakeholders present were the Social Security System (SSS), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Prevention (BFP), Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), Safe Kids, and the National Telehealth Center represented by Dr. HR Aujero. Focused Group Discussions on awareness, practices, and possible solutions were held. This event was just a preparation for the actual Strategic Planning on the Violence and Injury Prevention Program to be held on September 9-12, 2008

NThC Conducts CHITS Training to Various LGUs

1 July 2008 - CHITS Training for Municipal Health Workers of Mendez, Cavite held at the Municipal Health Office of Mendez, Cavite.

2 July 2008 - CHITS Training for Municipal Health Workers of Orion, Bataan held at the National Telehealth Center Conference Room.

4 July 2008 - CHITS Training for Barangay Health Workers of Quezon City held at the National Computer Center, Diliman, QC.

DOST Telemedicine Project Mock Set-up Meeting

30 June 2008

Batanes Telehealth Program Inked

Batanes is 225 years old! As part of the Batanes Foundation Day celebrations, National Telehealth Center Director Alvin Marcelo, National Institutes of Health Deputy Executive Director Vicente Belizario, and DOH-Information Management Services Director Crispinita Valdez supported by NThC staff Cristina Onzaga, Al Merca, and Alexandra Bernal, RN traveled to Batanes to take part in the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement of the Batanes Telehealth Program with Governor Telesforo Castillejos, Mayor Demetrius Paul Narag of Basco, and Mayor Nicanor Doplito of Uyugan. This program, which has three main components: telemedicine, continuing professional education, and establishing an electronic health records for RHUs, seeks deliver health care from a distance. Dr. HR Aujero, Field Operations Coordinator of the National Telehealth Center, was sent to Batanes on a three-month stint to implement the project.

Telemedicine is simply providing healthcare to patients from a remote location. Doctors and selected nurses of Batanes General Hospital, the Provincial Health Office, the Municipality of Uyugan and the hospitals in the islands of Itbayat (Itbayat District Hospital) and Sabtang (Sabtang Community Hospital) have been trained on how to present patients through videoconferencing and how to take pictures of X-ray plates and lesions. A number of patients' x-ray plates have been referred to the Philippine General Hospital for official reading of a radiologist. And slides have also been sent to Manila to be read by a pathologist. Other avenues that have been utilized include SMS, and MMS. The latter has been very helpful for dermatology materials.

It is also the program's goals to improve the knowledge and skills of the other health workers such as the midwives and barangay health workers. Video presentations have been produced by the National Telehealth Center in cooperation with USAID and the UP Open University's Multimedia Center for these front line healthworkers. Each session consists of a video presentation and is followed by an open forum with a specialist on the topic from the Philippine General Hospital. To date, there have been three sessions in the province. The first in the island municipality of Itbayat on household poisoning with Dr. Laura Aguinaldo (April 22,2008). A session on stroke with Dr. Paul Pasco was held in the Provincial Health Office in Basco (May 5, 2008). And as part of the Batanes Day celebrations, another session on household poisoning with Dr. Laura Aguinaldo was held in the PHO (June 27, 2008). The last one however had the Q&A via cellular phone due to limited internet connection.

The last component is the utilization of the Community Health Information Tracking System, an electronic health record for Rural Health Units. This customizable, user friendly software is free, thus lowering costs for the LGUs. Pilot sites for CHITS are municipalities of Basco and Uyugan and the provincial health office. Mr Alison Perez Senior Programmer of the UP College of Medicine’s Medical Informatics Unit came to Batanes to install CHITS in the pilot sites and train the health workers on its use.

With the pact signed, stakeholders from both ends sealed their commitment on the program and expressed their enthusiasm for the next phase.

NThC Attends tPCA Charter Workshop

The National Telehealth Center, through its Central Operations Coordinator Dr. Alex Gavino, and Telehealth Nurse Ms. Pia Athena Tolentino, participated in the Charter Workshop of the telecentre.org-Philippine Community e-Center Academy (tPCA) held at The Legend Villas, Mandaluyong City last June 4-6, 2008.

The CeC Roadmap specifically cites the establishment of a CeC academy as one priority strategy supporting the capacity-building goal of the Philippine CeC Program which is to ensure the availability ofcompetent knowledge workers in every Community e-Center. The tPCA is a consortium of ICT4D and CeC capability-building and content development institutions (government, private and academic) who collaborate towards the timely delivery of relevant, useful and quality capability building programs for CeC knowledge workers. Along with CICT, the following are among the consortium partners: 1) Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP); 2) Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC); 3) UP-National Telehealth Center; 4) University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU); 5) Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Open Academy for Agriculture; 6) Intel Technology Philippines, Inc.; 6)Microsoft Philippines, Inc.; and 8) telecentre.org.
The objectives of the workshop were: 1) to organize the tPCA consortium; 2) to formulate the tPCA Charter; and 3) to formulate an action plan for 1 year. The workshop was composed of 4 modules, specifically: 1) Validation of the tPCA Purpose (Vision, Mission, Functions, Components and Roles); 2) Organizational Options and Relationships; 3) Resource Generation and Management; 4) Accreditation Procedures and Standards, Organizational Issues and Action Planning Exercise.
After the 3-day session, certain agreements were reached and the draft of the Charter shall be made available to the Charter members later this month. Hopefully, the Charter will be ratified by August 2008.

This endeavor emphasizes the NThC's commitment in enhancing Community e-Center services through e-Health.

Hippocratic Oath or Hypocritical

During oath-taking ceremonies of medical professionals, the modern version of hippocratic oath is sworn to with great pride usually because of the fact that we were able to pass a difficult board exam, not to mention a difficult training. Sad to say, during practice of most medical professionals nowadays, it seems to me, that most of the lines sworn before, are already forgotten by most of our colleagues.

Take for example “I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism”, nowadays, what are we doing, what do you see?
Take another line or phrase “I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know” Again, what are we doing, and what do you see?
And another phrase “I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability” Again, what are we doing and what do you see?
Finally, the last phrase “...may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter...” Again, do we still see the hippocratic oath in our lives? Or are we now one of those who have become hypocritical? What do you see...

National Telehealth Center Attends an Online Conference on Pandemic Influenza Preparedness

The National Telehealth Center, through its Field Operations Coordinator Dr. HR Aujero, attended an online conference sponsored by the Emerging Infections Network (EINet). This symposium was hosted by the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) at their facility in UP-Diliman where necessary equipment allows real time conferencing among numerous participants. Attended by 17 APEC economies the 2008 Virtual Symposium Pandemic Influenza Preparedness: Partnerships and Continuity Planning for Critical Systems seeks to describe how private and public sectors in the APEC region can cooperate and work effectively to prepare for and respond to pandemic influenza. This videoconference promotes regional information sharing and collaboration to enhance preparedness against pandemic influenza. In order to improve preparedness regionally, it is vital to understand how each economy in the region is undertaking preparedness. Specifically, EINet's proposed aims are to:

1. Bring together economies in a dynamic, real-time discussion on preparedness through the collaboration of the health and the business/trade sectors, with a focus on critical systems continuity.
2. Share specific examples of current practices, e.g. scenario exercises, communication drills and policy evaluation.
3. Use innovative technologies (e.g. Access Grid) for real-time, virtual interchange, enhancing their utility for future collaboration and response in time of a pandemic.

Telehealth in Remote Batanes

The National Telehealth Center of the UP-Manila- National-Institutes of Health partnered with the Provincial Government of Batanes on a Telehealth Program. This program seeks to connect the doctors of Batanes to each other and to specialists from the Philippine General Hospital. Dr. HR Aujero of the National Telehealth Center was sent to Batanes on a three-month stint to implement the project. The Governor, LGU heads, local doctors, nurses, and health workers have been oriented to the project and have given their full support.

The program has three main components: telemedicine, continuing professional education, and establishing an electronic health records for RHUs. Telemedicine is simply providing healthcare to patients from a remote location. Doctors and selected nurses of Batanes General Hospital, the Provincial Health Office, the Municipality of Uyugan and the hospitals in the islands of Itbayat (Itbayat District Hospital) and Sabtang (Sabtang Community Hospital) have been trained on how to present patients through videoconferencing and how to take pictures of X-ray plates and dermatologic lesions. A number of patients' x-ray plates have been referred to the Philippine General Hospital for official reading of a radiologist. And slides have also been sent to Manila to be read by a pathologist. Other avenues that have been utilized include SMS, and MMS. The latter has been very helpful for dermatology materials.

It is also the program's goals to improve the knowledge and skills of the other health workers such as the midwives and barangay health workers. Video presentations have been produced by the National Telehealth Center in cooperation with USAID and the UP Open University's Multimedia Center for these front line healthworkers. Each session consists of a video presentation and is followed by an open forum with a specialist on the topic from the Philippine General Hospital. Two sessions have been held in the province. The first in the island municipality of Itbayat on household poisoning with Dr. Laura Aguinaldo. A session on stroke with Dr. Paul Pasco was held in the Provincial Health Office in Basco.

The last component is the utilization of the Community Health Information Tracking System, an electronic health record for Rural Health Units. This customizable, user friendly software is free, thus lowering costs for the LGUs. Pilot sites for CHITS are municipalities of Basco and Uyugan and the provincial health office. Mr Alison Perez Senior Programmer of the UP College of Medicine’s Medical Informatics Unit came to Batanes to install CHITS in the pilot sites and train the health workers on its use.

On May 16, 2008, National Telehealth Center Field Operations Coordinator Dr. Hypte Raymund V. Aujero presented to the Governor, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for Health, and the Provincial Health Office the milestones of the program. NThC Director Alvin Marcelo, MD, FPCS, was able to send his message via video through the internet. The Governor and other officials expressed their appreciation to the National Telehealth Center for reaching out the remote province of Batanes, specially by sending a lone representative to implement the Telehealth program and live among the Ivatans, Isabtangs, and Itbayats for three months. Both the Province and NThC look forward to continuing the partnership.

UPMASA Awards Asus Eee Laptops to Deserving DttBs

Asus Eee Laptops


Dr. Ferdinand B. Pekas from Placer, Surigao del Norte.


Dr. Matthew B. Bawayan from Asipulo, Ifugao.


Dr. Yashier P. Maali from Sibutu, Tawi-tawi.


Dr. Jennifer G. Coritico from Santander, Cebu.


Dr. Cherrilyn G. Zablan from Alilem, Ilocos Sur.


Last but definitely not the least. The doctor with the most number of referrals:
Dr. Augustus Caesar Bigornia from Hungduan, Ifugao.