Manila, Philippines-UP Manila National Telehealth Center (NTHC) brought new hope to 38,000 newly registered nurses after introducing career opportunities on health informatics during the recently concluded eHealth Seminar.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, registered nurses, doctors, and other health professionals flocked to the UP College of Medicine Alvior Hall, Ermita, Manila where experts in the field enlightened them on the potentials of eHealth as a career path.

Dr. Portia Fernandez-Marcelo, NTHC director, explained that despite the oversupply of nurses, health care in the country improved very little. Of the 200,000 nurses who graduate every year, the Department of Labor and Employment reported that only an average of 2,500 jobs are available at hand. By delving into health informatics, Dr. Marcelo said health professionals, indeed, catapult themselves to a new approach in improving health care.

Demand for eHealth in the Philippines

In the Philippines, it is expected that the demand for institutionalizing eHealth will prod upon the release of the 30-Million peso budget of the Department of Health for the National Telehealth Service Program.

“Health informatics is the way to go,” declared Dr. Alvin Marcelo during the panel discussion portion of the seminar. He said that hospitals and other health facilities will be needing health practitioners who have skills and knowledge on health informatics in the next years. Ranging from simple electronic medical record (EMR) to complex databases, a nurse who knows health informatics could assist a health facility in developing their own system.

To illustrate EMRs, Dr. Marie Irene R. Sy, Project Manager for the Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS) discussed Pasay City’s experience in implementing an electronic medical record system in their health centers.

Dr. Allan Raymond S. Tenorio, Chief Medical Officer discussed on the Telemedicine experience of the National Telehealth Center while Dr. Ryan Julius A. Bañez, NTHC eHealth Systems Analyst, explained the Guidelines in the Practice of eHealth. Isidor Cardenas, NTHC’s Game Developer-Interactive Media for Health showcased how games could be used for teaching health concepts.

“A certificate on eHealth Seminar might be an employer’s requirement for hiring an eHealth nurse in the future,” said Dr. Marcelo. “An eHealth Seminar participant means that one has a basic knowledge on the ethics involve in the practice of eHealth, related policies, and the standards for implementing quality eHealth applications,” he added.

eHealth as a discipline

According to the World Health Organization, “eHealth is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for health to, for example, treat patients, pursue research, educate students, track diseases and monitor public health.”

Almost 70 percent of the participants of the seminar were BS nursing graduates who passed the July 2011 Nursing Licensure Examinations. Most of them expressed that they are looking for jobs at the moment. With the eHealth Seminar, NTHC hoped that these new nurses will start building their careers on health informatics.