The information of the health sector is urgent needs. The rapid application of the information technology meets the requirement of the development of health sector in the curative and preventive medicine, the health education and communication, the medical equipment, administration and training.
Technology ; Health Care Sector

Delivery of Health Care ; Technology

Necessity motivates innovators in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) to develop medical devices that solve unmet local health needs. At the start of each process, multidisciplinary teams incubate ideas. Design planning and validation require funding, infrastructure, procurement, and testing. Ultimately, the regulatory and technology transfer processes usher the technology to market. These stages are standard procedures in developed nations; in an LMIC, these present a new set of hurdles to overcome. To assist innovators, this paper describes the hurdles from ideation to regulation and technology transfer and delineates mechanisms to address them.
medical device ; health technology ; technology transfer

BACKGROUND: It has long been observed globally that the extent to which developing countries can achieve health targets depends on their capacity to generate, harness, and apply science and technology (S&T). Beyond the health sector, S&T contributes to development by providing a solid foundation for education, infrastructure, and economic progress. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) suggests a set of fundamental elements for an ideal S&T environment: knowledge generators, producers, infrastructures, and the policy instruments.

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: Through document and secondary data review guided by the UNCTAD fundamental elements, this paper aimed to 1) provide an overview of the S&T policies in the country, 2) assess the country's S&T status, 3) identify gaps and challenges, and 4) provide recommendations to strengthen the S&T environment in the country.

RESULTS: The country's set of policies in S&T has succeeded in attracting businesses, nurturing good governance, and applying necessary regulatory mechanisms that offers protection and incentives to innovation. While performance in Education & Research has improved, spending on research, patent applications, and journal publications lags regionally and globally. The country's university-industry collaboration has been in decline since 2015. Between 2013 to 2015, innovations strongly enabled changes in business and organizational models. Data show that the country has been devoting increasing percentage of its GDP to Gross Capital Formation. Conversely, logistics performance has been decreasing. The country's score for information and communication technology has been increasing since 2013. Since 2014, the density of newly registered business has remained stagnant.

CONCLUSION: Policies implemented through the years in the Philippines have managed to balance strengthening infrastructure capacity while increasing translation and uptake of new knowledge and technologies by enterprises. The country's S&T performance has remained largely stagnant despite the availability of human capital. The Philippines has devoted low funding to research and development, indicating the low priority that it has for S&T. This is manifested in the low research output of the country, in the form of patents and publications, that lags both regionally and globally. The availability of quality infrastructure is a requirement for efficient work of researchers and facilitates adaption of new technologies by enterprises. However, these developments must be coupled with good logistical processes to meet the demands of researchers and the industry

The invention and use of science and technology have always been a double-edged sword. The paper analysed the function and influence of medical hi-tech on medical and health undertakings development in China, and gives opinions on how to treat medical hi-tech correctly, so as to provide reference for the use and supervision of medical hi-tech.
China ; Health ; Health Promotion ; Technology ; trends

The combination of mobile medical technology and the grading diagnosis and treatment system (GDTS) can stimulate the allocation of medical resources, reduce medical cost and improve public health significantly. Firstly we summarize development features of mobile medical technology in foreign and domestic market, then we study the application model of mobile medical application in GDTS with field research data and analyzes its advantage and shortage. Finally, we propose four measures for further developing mobile medical application in the GDTS:the government departments should formulate policies and industry standards of products as soon as possible to meet requirement of market; service providers should take the hospitals as core role to achieve mutual benefit and win-win situation; take the daily monitoring of chronic diseases as an entry point to build profitable business model; enhance publicity to promote public health awareness.
Diagnosis ; Mobile Applications ; Public Health ; Technology ; trends

Introduction: The National Telehealth Service Program (NTSP) has developed Information Technology (IT) systems aimed at improving health services primarily in isolated Philippine communities. These included two electronic health records modalities (Community Health Information Tracking System, or CHITS, and Real-time Regular Routine Reporting for Health, or R4Health), a referral system (Telemedicine), and a remote diagnostic device (RxBox). Objectives: This study was undertaken to describe the utilization and cost patterns as well as the perceptions of the local health personnel regarding the use of the various NTSP systems. The implications of the end-user perceptions on the acceptability and expanded use of the IT interventions were inferred, from which corresponding policy recommendations were made. Methods: Twelve NTSP sites, including far-flung and economically depressed communities, where the systems were concurrently available over a defined six month period, were selected. The frequency of respective system transactions for these sites was collected from NTSP files. Interviews and focus group discussions were conducted at the communities, involving physicians, nurses, midwives, and other health workers. Associated costs, and perceptions related to the adoption, operation, and sustained use of the IT systems were elucidated. Results: Telemedicine, though the least costly modality, was the least utilized of the systems. While both R4Health and CHITS facilitated health data management, CHITS provided more locally-relevant information. The RxBox system, due to its clinical diagnostic device component, was widely accepted and also increased health center consultations, especially among pregnant patients. Technical malfunctions, as well as system failures following natural calamities, were recurrent problems. Conclusions The RxBox system, with its bundled health records and specialist consultation functions, is highly accepted by health providers and other community stakeholders. The technology can be expected to be similarly well-regarded in other settings. The stand-alone IT modalities that do not directly or significantly benefit the actual implementers are not as sustainable.
Electronic Health Records ; Information Technology ; Telemedicine

Biomedical Technology ; China ; Delivery of Health Care ; Disease Management ; Health Policy

Introduction: Access to appropriate and timely care underpins the Republic Act 9707 or the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act of 2009. However, less than 10% of babies born every year have been screened for hearing loss. The Hearing for Life (HeLe) research program aims to increase the rate of newborn hearing screening (NHS) nationwide through the development and deployment of novel digital health or eHealth technologies in government rural primary care health centers (PCHC). The HeLe is also built on the global call for increased and systematic use of eHealth to strengthen health systems. Effectiveness of eHealth innovations requires acknowledgment of the product’s life cycle; one consideration is organizational readiness at this development stage of the HeLe. Objective: This study assessed readiness of the eight PCHC selected to use the HeLe technologies. Methods: This research utilized the Khoja-Durrani-Scott (KDS) eHealth evaluation tool to assess the PCHC’s readiness level prior to the implementation of HeLe. The KDS tool was distributed through a self-administered survey; data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Readiness is measured in terms of seven dimensions or outcomes resulting from the use of the HeLe technologies. Results: The study revealed that the eight PCHC were most to least ready, in decreasing order, in the following areas: Ethical, Health, Technology, Social & Cultural, Readiness & Change Management, as well as Economic, and Policy outcomes. The study affirms the PCHCs’ value for equity in health care, i.e., providing accessible NHS services in the community setting closest to where the families and their newborns are. Likewise, results confirm the PCHC staff’s preparedness for another set of innovations, through agreement with statements on Technology, Social & Cultural as well as Readiness & Change Management parameters. Conclusions The results informed the training and technical support strategies to be implemented by the HeLe program proponents. However, even in this early development phase of the HeLe technologies, the PCHC are already concerned with how to sustain NHS services after the research. Fully aware that the HeLe ICT tools need to be maintained and upgraded, the PCHC views that economic and policy support should also be in place to ensure continuous delivery of the ICT-enabled NHS services. While results are illustrative, usefulness is limited by the small sample size and character of the study sites. Nevertheless, social dimensions still have to be carefully considered as innovative NHS tools are introduced to primary care health workers nationwide. Researchers have to be deliberate in working with broader health systems and policy advocacy efforts to allow novel NHS technologies to be smoothly introduced at the community level and frontlines of care.
Telemedicine ; Health ; Technology ; Change Management ; Policy ; Ethics ; Primary Health Care

National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency (NECA) is established in Dec, 2008 to implement evidence-based healthcare system in Korea. Transition from management-based to evidence-based system is expected. Evidence will be evaluated in terms of efficacy and toxicity as well as social values. It can be considered as an 'essential' health technology in case of good evidence and high social values, but it will be 'optional' with low social values in spite of good evidence. Conditional coverage with evidence development program will help to accept new technology in case of insufficient evidence despite high social values.
Biomedical Technology ; Delivery of Health Care ; Korea ; Social Values