ASOG explores smart card innovation for enhanced health service delivery in brown bag session

The Ateneo School of Government, through the Ateneo Policy Center, recently conducted a brown bag session to discuss the study entitled “Towards integrated and quality-assured health service delivery: Creating a prototype of health smart card in the Philippines”. The project is funded by the AIA Philippines Foundation.

The discussion was held on December 12, 2023, led by APC Senior Research Fellow Dr Kenneth Y Hartigan-Go and HealthBlocks Co-Founder Mr James Tristan Mendoza. The event was attended by various participants from the public and private healthcare sector, including chief executive officers, chief informatics and technology officers, health promotion officers, and computer maintenance technologists.

In the presentation, Dr Hartigan-Go raised the current inaccessibility of patient health records, barring them from freely choosing who to seek care from. To address this, the development and adoption of a health smart card is proposed. The health smart card is an integrative tool that carries the lifetime record of each Filipino, making it significantly more accessible to patients and empowering them to take charge of their health.

Scalability, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness were the primary considerations in developing the initial prototype. The idea was to use PVC ID cards embedded with a unique QR code for easy identification.  A cross-platform application was also developed to read and maintain patient health information.

While the reception of the prototype was largely positive, it was also recognized that there was much room for improvement in terms of creating an interoperable environment and resolving the patient data ownership debate. Moreover, there remains a need to strengthen data security and thoroughly plan for the scalability and funding of the project.

Participants also noted that while technical implementation may come easy, several human barriers may be anticipated. These include resistance from users, providers, and even the government in stepping up to fulfill their role in the project rollout. Securing the buy-in of all stakeholders involved will be an integral albeit challenging endeavor.

The brown bag session is part of ASOG’s efforts to champion health innovations for increased accessibility and better quality of health service delivery, supporting the University’s thrust in advancing universal health care.