Knowledge of a patient’s medical history and information is critical in administering the proper treatment, especially so during emergency situations.
This criteria paved the way for Omni Health, a system that allows access to electronic medical records (EMRs) to garner the silver award at the recently concluded thinkOPEN: Hackathon for Health organized by PLDT wireless unit, Smart Communications (Smart), the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) in coordination with SmartDevNet, Smart’s developer community.
The hackathon was organized for developers to create plug-ins for the SHINE OS+, an open-sourced EMR system developed by the Ateneo Java Wireless Competency Center in partnership with Smart to help improve the delivery of healthcare services to more Filipinos.
SHINE OS+ has since opened its API, enabling data sharing or exchange for interoperability. The SHINE mobile app is now available for download for both Android and iOS devices.
Universal access to patient records
The Omni Health System was created by Lloyd Ocampo, Elizabeth Milo, Bernadette Milo, and Ariel Vaughn Milo of Team Chunky Monkeys.
“We have different EMR platforms – Shine OS+, E-hatid, Lunas, Wireless Access for Health, and others. Since these systems are different from each other, we built a system that was interoperable across these platforms,” explains Elizabeth, a staff of the Office of the President.
“If you’re a patient going to a rural health unit (RHU) and they only use the SHINE EMR, and your records are in E-hatid, the RHU cannot access your medical records. An EMR is crucial in emergency cases,” she says.
According to the team, public and private hospitals that subscribe to the Omni Health System stand to also benefit financially. (pr)
