Developing effective technological infrastructure for improving healthcare systems and outcomes is essential for many Filipino healthcare workers and patients. To strengthen “teknolohiya para sa mabilis na serbisyong pangkalusugan” (technology for efficient health service delivery), the Department of Health (DOH), the Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have taken a monumental step by organizing the inaugural Philippine Digital Health Summit in the pursuit of improved health services in the country. 

The Philippine Digital Health Summit was held last March 6–8, 2024, at the Makati Diamond Residences to discuss digital health initiatives that will improve healthcare delivery in the country under the new Philippine Digital Health Strategy 2024-2028. Guided by the DOH’s ‘8-Point Action Agenda‘ and eight priority programs, 149 local and international stakeholders discussed the current digital health situation, pain points, and crucial steps moving forward.  

The summit’s objectives are to share the strategic-operational directions on Philippine digital health for Universal Health Care (UHC) and to create a collaborative environment for stakeholders to strategize, plan, and align their initiatives, development, and assistance to the Philippine digital health strategy. 

To achieve these objectives, the summit organizers adopted the methods described in the Digital Health Convergence Meeting Toolkit published in 2018 with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia, UNICEF, and AeHIN. Guided by the Toolkit, the organizers applied the stages in convening a digital health convergence workshop: request, coordination, planning (pre-summit), preparation, implementation (main summit), and planned follow-up. 

The summit introduced the Philippine digital health strategy, directions, and priorities to establish the context for the discussions during the event. Relevant topics were presented during the plenary sessions, including the national digital health vision and strategy, health enterprise architecture, digital health, and data infrastructure initiatives, digital health models and good practices (regional and global), and standards-based interoperability. Various partners across relevant sectors (development, health financing, and academe) also expressed their commitment of support towards the Philippine digital health strategy.

The summit enabled different opportunities for stakeholder engagement, such as panels with digital health developers (e.g., electronic medical records providers) and digital health users (e.g., local government authorities, municipal health officers) and a forum dedicated to development partners. It must be noted that the forum among development partners resulted in a declaration of a joint partner statement of support for the national digital health strategy. Through these interactive spaces, the summit amplified diverse perspectives on digital health in the country.  

Furthermore, the summit was a pivotal event that facilitated digital health action planning for DOH’s eight priority programs. Breakout sessions involved stakeholders from different sectors to collaboratively plan the digitalization of the identified programs. Guided by the presummit output, these sessions were dedicated to vision setting, mapping of existing digital tools and data sources, naming key players and their roles, identifying potential challenges and risks, and drafting an action plan with milestones for 2024 to 2028 to leverage digital health effectively. 

To conclude the summit, the DOH responded to the joint partners’ statement of support for the national digital health strategy and provided closing remarks. 

As a result of the summit, stakeholders developed a shared understanding of the Philippine digital health strategy and other priority digital health investments, consolidated digital health action plans for the priority programs, and declared a joint partner statement of support on national digital health. These results led to the alignment of digital health efforts and convergence on the national digital health direction. Overall, these outcomes are crucial for stakeholders to be informed and prepared for the next steps in the country’s digital health initiatives. 

Moving forward in the digitalization of Philippine healthcare, the summit organizers have underscored the significance of key recommendations, such as the establishment of an entity dedicated to digital transformation and digital health development coordination, pooling of digital health experts, development of a costed digital health blueprint, investment in national digital health components, and continued monitoring and updating of progress on the eight priority digital health programs and other national health data infrastructure underway. 

Note: The above text is directly lifted from the executive summary of the Philippine Digital Health Summit report.

Acknowledgments:

The organizers thank the Government of Japan, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Digital Square at PATH for supporting the summit. 

The Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN) is funded by Digital Square, a PATH-led initiative funded and designed by the United States Agency for International Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and a consortium of other investors, in support of the Digital Health Convergence Workshop in the Philippines.

Through “The Project for Supporting Digital Health System for Infectious Diseases Control in Southeast and East Asia” funded by the Government of Japan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines provided technical assistance to the Department of Health (DOH) for conducting the Philippine Digital Health Summit.

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