Telemedicine adoption increasing despite cultural, infrastructural barriers

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

DESPITE cultural and structural barriers, telemedicine will become a permanent part of the country’s health-care system, according to experts.

Demand for telemedicine has increased “tremendously,” said Ron Estrella, the country manager for Medgate Philippines, Inc., at the ����ý Insights online forum on Wednesday.

“Over the past year, we’ve seen a jump of about 170% in terms of demand, so it’s been massive. Certainly, that speaks well to the fact that people are now more accepting and more willing to try new things,” he added.

Enrique A. Tayag, director IV at the Department of Health’s Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service, said the agency started offering telemedicine last year because “there was a demand for it.”

But he pointed out that the consumption of telemedicine services has not been “optimal” because of infrastructural and cultural challenges.

He said some Filipinos are not comfortable with the technology, so they still prefer face-to-face consultations.

“Another cultural thing is the intergenerational gap. There are young adults who can actually be more focused on social media conversations rather than telemedicine, so they may make choices outside the telemedicine universe,” Mr. Tayag explained.

Some are also worried about their privacy when using digital tools, he added.

For his part, Juan Miguel Tan, president and managing director of Siemens Healthineers Philippines, said: “The future is homecare. We should be able to diagnose remotely, we should be able to consult remotely, and a lot who have been working from home have appreciated these services.”

He noted Siemens Healthineers would be launching a robotics system or cardiac interventions.

“I think, in the future, it’s also going to be neuro. These robots can be controlled even by a doctor from another hospital,” Mr. Tan said. “Remote treatment is the future. We are there. Technology is there. It will be the way to go for the future.”

Mr. Tayag said his agency is hoping that telemedicine will reach more people in the next “few months” or “few years.”

“This is now an opportune time for the public and the private sector to join hands, so we can actually reach out to many Filipinos. Forget about the cultural barriers… so that we can move forward,” he added.

Mr. Estrella said, “We need more doctors, frontliners to provide healthcare. Then, we can leverage platforms and technology. But this requires affordable fiber bandwidth.”