CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – With the goal of improving community health in rural areas of Northern Mindanao, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in region 10 has recently deployed a total of 54 RxBox devices to selected healthcare facilities in the region.
In partnership with the Local Government Units, the 54 RxBox devices were deployed in all provinces of the region. Eleven devices were rolled out in Bukidnon, three in Camiguin, 16 in Lanao del Norte, ten in Misamis Occidental, and 14 in Misamis Oriental.
The list of recipients per province are as follows:
“Pwede ra nila ma monitor ang kondisyon ni baby sa akong tiyan bisan wala ang doctor kay pwede ra nila ipadala online” says Melca, an expecting mother from Barangay Taglimao, CDO. As one of the beneficiaries of RxBox in their health center, Melca shares that the presence of RxBox has helped them, especially the pregnant women and the senior citizens, save hospital fees, fare and time.
Recipient rural health units and hospitals were provided with free capability training on the handling and preventive maintenance of units. Each beneficiary healthcare facility was provided with technical assistance and a complete set of computers and routers for the integration of electronic medical records.
The usage of the units was also monitored for three months through the RxDeteC, a multi-component application software developed which consists of an android application that gathers and transmits daily usage reports and a website that stores and displays the utilization and status of the RxBox units.
The RxBox is a multi-component program that includes a biomedical device, electronic medical record systems, and training designed to provide better access to health care services. It can reduce healthcare cost by enabling health workers to diagnose, monitor, and treat patients within the rural health facility.
With the use of the six built-in medical sensors, which include the Cardiotocograph (CTG), Fetal Heart Rate Monitor, Electrocardiogram (ECG), Blood Pressure Monitor, Pulse Oxymeter, and a Temperature, the device allows the diagnosis of the health conditions of the patients in the RHUs.
This multi-component device can store data in an electronic medical record and transmit health information via the internet to a clinical specialist in the Philippine General Hospital for expert advice. It also catalyzes improvement in the local referral system by facilitating teleconsultations (audio-video conferences) within the National Telehealth Service Program.
RxBox was developed by the University of the Philippines National Telehealth Center and UP Diliman College of Engineering. The project, “Roll-out of 1000 RxBox Telehealth Devices in Selected Rural Health Centers in the Philippines” was funded by DOST Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD). (Nova Belle C. Calotes/DOST 10)
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