The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) has announced it will soon offer a training program for medical professionals who want to specialize on eHealth solutions.
The DAP’s Graduate School of Public and Development Management (GSPDM) said the program, titled “Innovating Healthcare Service Delivery through Electronic Health (eHealth) Solutions”, is aimed at developing a contactless triage framework in each of the 17 regions of the Philippines with the end-goal of strengthening the practice of eHealth in the country.
The DAP said it is important for public and private professionals to be trained in delivering contactless medical care after noting that a huge number of medical professionals have succumbed to Covid-19.
The DAP said the Certificate Course on eHealth Solutions will focus on contactless triage. The curriculum combines both practical and functional aspects of eHealth practice and at the same time provides participants with better handles of public management and governance.
The DAP said it is collaborating with different stakeholders such as the DOH, international universities, digital health solutions startup Pivotal Peak, and DAP alumni doctors, among others, to develop the course and better understand how to promote and expand existing functional eHealth solutions.
Dr. Lizan E. Perante-Calina, DAP senior vice president and GSPDM dean, said the institution is in the best position to respond to the challenge of capacitating healthcare professionals on eHealth. Since its founding in 1973, the DAP has served as a national institution for capacity-building of public sector human resources and facilitator for sustainable development.
At present, the DAP said it is finalizing the policy brief titled “Institutionalizing eHealth Solutions: An Innovation in Healthcare Service Delivery” which entails an evidence-based discussion on various issues related to eHealth. Its senior research fellows will also produce other policy briefs related to Covid-19.
Lawyer Jocelle Batapa Sigue, an awardee in the field of ICT for the 2016 The Outstanding Women in the Nations’ Service (TOWNS), has been tapped as supervising fellow of DAP-GSPDM’s programs on eHealth. Batapa-Sigue is also the 2012 Eisenhower fellow of the Philippines whose fellowship in the United States focused on learning telemedicine systems.