Pilot testing of telehealth service in Philippines

Filipino company Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) plans to offer telehealth services in its hospitals allowing Filipinos in remote areas to avail themselves of healthcare services, reports Interaksyon, the online news portal of the Philippines TV network TV5.

In a briefing last week MPIC Hospital Group president Augusto Palisoc has said it is piloting a telehealth service involving two machines located in company-owned Asian Hospital and another in a government hospital in Batangas. This will allow patients in remote areas — with the assistance of a professional with medical training — to seek diagnosis or the advice of doctors in a base hospital, the article says.

Metro Pacific’s planned venture into telehealth is part of its efforts to look at other healthcare delivery processes in addition to its regular hospital investments. MPIC operates the largest private hospital group in the country with approximately 2,150 beds. Its network includes the Makati Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Asian Hospital & Medical Center, De Los Santos Medical Center, Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital in Tarlac, Riverside Medical Center in the Visayas and Davao Doctors Hospital in Mindanao.