Dr. Alvin first introduced the Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN), an informal peer-learning network created by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2012 to help countries with their digital health development. AeHIN was formed on the principle that people are at the core of interoperability and that they create opportunities for government and civil society to collaborate on their national digital health strategies. Over the years, it became evident that interoperability is more of a people problem than a technology problem. People generally do not want to interoperate, despite the technologies and connections already being in place.
Through this peer-learning network, AeHIN, the pain points and opportunities raised are summarized as “minding the gaps.” It was found that the challenges faced due to non-interoperability mainly stem from governance issues. Dr. Alvin pointed out that without governance, there is no enforcement of an architectural approach. Consequently, without a proper architecture, people start building systems that do not communicate with each other.
To address these concerns and solve these problems, it was agreed that the community would intervene through a Convergence Workshop (CW), a government-led, civil society-supported meeting with health and non-health stakeholders to rally support behind the national eHealth/digital health strategy. These CWs are held to understand the complexities of health systems, under the guidance of the Ministries of Health, with the support of AeHIN. The intervention in “minding the gaps” is to “fill the gaps” by ensuring that 1) there is a blueprint and architecture, 2) people understand the architecture, 3) systems being built are architecturally compliant, and 4) standards are available and followed.
Furthermore, Dr. Alvin presented the Open Health Information Exchange (OpenHIE), which is a generic blueprint for interoperable systems that serves as the building blocks of interoperability at the national level. It comprises the OpenHIE Component Layer, which includes Business Domain Services and Registry Services, the Interoperability Services Layer, which includes Authentication, Interlinking Service, and Entity Mapping, and the Point of Service, which includes various health-related information systems such as Community Health Information Systems, Electronic Medical Records, Health Management Information Systems, and others.
This initiative of having interoperable systems supports the third item of the 8-point action agenda of the Philippine Health Sector: “Teknolohiya para sa mabilis na serbisyong pangkalusugan” (Technology for faster health services). For this action agenda, eight priority outcomes have been identified by the Secretary of the Department of Health, and eight Tier 1 projects have been prioritized for support by Digital Health. Among these projects, the National Health Data Repository (NHDR) is the largest project led by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), where public and private, national and local health-related entities will share all health-related information with PhilHealth to ensure that quality health and health-related data and reports are readily available and accessible to every stakeholder.
For a smooth and more effective digital transformation, the next immediate step is to publish the National Digital Health Blueprint, aligned with the interventions of AeHIN and CWs to “fill the gap.” This blueprint is crucial as a guide for the health sector in their digital transformation initiatives, ensuring that the systems they create are standardized and ready for interoperability with other information systems. Through this blueprint, stakeholders in both the government and private sectors will also be informed and educated about the standards set, enabling them to embark on the adoption journey together. Ultimately, the goal of this digital transformation effort in the health sector is to deliver value to Filipino citizens and strengthen the digital health community of practice.
