DocPH, a month after
Nelson Celis / The Manila Times / May 13, 2020
Posted by CenPEG May 13, 2020  

Because of the unprecedented success of the Digital Online Consultation for our People’s Healthcare (DocPH) telemedicine system, the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) recently featured a YouTube video (https://youtu.be/IZX1I8aTzyU) on Docph.org showing some of its very satisfied patients posted on its Facebook public domain. The two-and-a-half-minute video humbly presents its current daily load of 800 to 1,000 patients a day being handled by more than 150 volunteer doctors online, here and abroad. This is their earnest way of supporting the Department of Health (DoH) and the entire nation in its fight against pandemic in the following manner:

In the video, a voice-over patient stated her comment, “Nagpapasalamat po ako sa PMA DocPH telekonsulta sa paglulunsad po ng programang ito na libreng konsultasyon online. Katunayan po, ako at ang aking asawa, at dalawang kaibigan, ay nabigyan ng consultation in time of [the] Covid pandemic. ‘Di na po tayo kailangang pumunta ng hospital at emergency room. At nakakausap po natin ang mga doktor dito na nagbibigay po sila ng resita na libre. Saludo po ako sa mga doctor na sumasagot sa aming pangangailangan.” Browsing through the DocPH Facebook page, it is noteworthy to cite some of the many patients’ comments about the services of the volunteer doctors:

Those kind words speak exactly what the patients really felt about the doctors’ services. They were just so honest and eager to tell, and I was touched that they were entertained by the doctors even beyond 9 p.m. not only by local doctors, but also by Filipino doctors abroad! This is the kind of volunteerism that most of us Filipinos have in common, especially in a time of crisis or in dire need — the modern and high-tech kind of bayanihan!

Bayanihan is derived from the Filipino word “bayan” for community. It refers to a basic concept of Filipino culture, which means working together or communal work to reach a common objective. Back then in the rural areas, a group of people would normally transfer a whole house, called nipa hut, from one place to another — that’s bayanihan! The word bayanihan was also adopted in Republic Act 11469, or the “Bayanihan to Heal As One Act of 2020,” granting the President additional authority to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hence, the DocPH is a form of complex bayanihan wherein a group of Filipino doctors collaborate to help their sick ‘kababayans’ or countrymen, and at the same time helping DoH and the nation fight the pandemic.

Featured also in the DocPH website are YouTube videos showing the interview of former senator Joey Lina, the president of the League of Data Protection and Cybersecurity Advocates of the Philippines (LeaDCAP) with Dr. Vic Chua of the Beta Sigma Fraternity Medical Group (BSFMG); a CNN interview with Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao; and the DZBB radio interview with PMA Vice President Dr. Benito Atienza.

By the way, the DocPH is also a bayanihan project of the doctors from the PMA, BSFMG, Private Hospital Association of the Philippines Inc., Philippine Digital Medicine Society and from the information technology experts of LeaDCAP. And the good news, DocPH is as credible as the other five telehealth services for online medical consultation — visit yahoo news at https://sg.news.yahoo.com/6-credible-telehealth-services-online-020007563.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/05/13/opinion/columnists/topanalysis/docph-a-month-after/724518/

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