Smart enables remote medical consultation

MANILA, Philippines - The patient being prepared for surgery is in a provincial hospital in a remote town in Misamis Oriental, the surgeon is in the provincial health office in the capital, Cagayan de Oro City.

Despite their being in separate locations, pre-operation consultation and other preparations proceed — more efficiently, in fact. That is made possible by mobile phones and Internet access provided by Smart Communications Inc.

The Misamis Oriental provincial government, in partnership with the Mindanao Consortium of Surgeons and Smart, recently launched the Mobile Surgery Services Project. Information gleaned from the online consultation as well as data transmitted via the eight 3G phones provided by Smart enables members of the mobile surgery team of the provincial health office to improve pre-operation preparations and ensure the efficient delivery of surgical services at the different provincial hospitals.

During the launch, a demonstration was conducted, showing how a patient at the provincial hospital in Balingasag town could consult a neurosurgeon stationed at the Cagayan de Oro Hospital using the ooVoo application and a webcam.

At present, four provincial hospitals in Misamis Oriental have access to medical specialists based at the provincial health office. These are in Gingoog, Talisayan, Manticao, and Balingasag.

Smart is providing free one-year Internet connectivity to all seven provincial hospitals of Misamis Oriental to support the development of the Mobile Surgery Services Project. 

The Mobile Surgery Services Project is being implemented in line with the province-wide Investment Plan for Health, which also involves the rehabilitation of the buildings and the upgrading of facilities and medical personnel services at the seven provincial hospitals.