eHATID wins People’s Choice Award in Gawad TECHNiCOM 2021

The eHATID LGU project (eHealth TABLET for Informed Decision Making of Local Government Units) of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) with the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) at the Ateneo de Manila University received the People’s Choice Award in the Gawad TECHNiCOM 2021 for their Facebook video “Tugon sa Hamon.”  Dr Dennis Batangan, project director of the eHATID LGU project, received the award during the WACAS: Week-long Accomplishment and Culminating Activity of Special Projects of the TECHNiCOM Program held last 20 December 2021.

Released on IPC’s social media account, “Tugon sa Hamon" generated the highest number of engagements. In the video, Batangan narrated how the project was first hatched in 2013, with the development of the eHealth Technology-Assisted Boards for LGU Efficiency and Transparent (eHealth TABLET) prototype. The project aims to support LGUs with the use of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) mobile application. In 2019, in compliance with the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, the technology underwent improvements and has led to eHATID derived projects such as the development of the Smarter and Integrated Local Health Information System (SMILHIS) for Cagayan de Oro City and Pangasinan Province. In addition, the eHATID System 2.0 received bronze recognition during the National Inventors Week.

“(We went) back to the drawing board and reconceptualized everything within the frame of the UHC. For which, we developed a design for local health information exchanges suited for city-wide health systems and province-wide health systems,” Batangan said.

The enhanced technology not only allows the storage of patient data but also integrates patient data into the eClaims benefits for PhilHealth. It can be accessed on mobile by end-users and does not need an internet connection. By improving the efficiency and transparency among stakeholders, the eHATID LGU project promotes health information integration and informed decision-making.

Added Batangan, “These technologies that we’re developing are developed by Filipinos. Atin ‘to, ang coding nito, Filipino lahat. Design, Filipino. (This is ours, from coding to the design–these were all accomplished by Filipinos).”

The eHATID LGU project also received a certificate of recognition for being one of the top three (3) nominees for the TECHNiCOM Award 2021 under the Gawad DAGSIK or 'Dakilang Ambag sa Imbensyon at Siyensiyang pang-Kalusugan' Category. The Gawad TECHNiCOM (Technology Innovation for Commercialization) was organized by DOST-Technology Application and Promotion Institute (DOST- TAPI).