A Philippine-based company of investment firm Mercatus Capital of Singapore is offering to install digital health ATMs to provide primary health care services in Catanduanes.
Last week, officials of Digihealth.Ph briefed members of the Provincial Health Board and the Provincial Health Office (PHO) Technical Management Committee on its Digihealth Automated Telehealth Machine that promises a medical check up within seven (7) minutes.
According to Digihealth chief executive officer Joyce Socao-Alumno, whose father hails from Mamangal, Virac, the Digihealth ATM will revolutionize health care by providing automated medical checkup.
With the assistance of a trained health worker, all one has to do is stand in front of the device, provide inputs to the screen and undergo the tests.
She said that the Health ATM covers more than 50 health parameters, including body temperature, height, weight, blood pressure, SPO2 (peripheral oxygen saturation), Pulse Oximeter, Body Mass Index (BMI), subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, body water, bone mass, fat-free weight, body fat, physique, protein, BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate), metabolic age and Health Score.
It can also determine if the client has anemia through hemoglobin measurement and diabetes via random blood sugar measurement using a pin prick of blood.
The device can also give a cardiac check-up of one’s lipid profile (HDL, LDL, Triglyceride, Cholesterol, TC/HDL ratio, 12-Lead ECG and heart rate.
Among the infectious diseases it can detect are COVID-19, HIV 1 and 2, Malaria, Dengue, Typhoid, Hepatitis B and C, Blood Grouping and Tuberculosis.
A urine checkup provides results for glucose, urobilinogen, bilirubin, ketones, specific gravity, PH, protein, nitrite, leukocytes, microalbumin, and creatinine.
The Health ATM can also give a mental health assessment of the patient.
Socao-Alumno said the easy-to-use device saves the user’s digital health records and can link the patient to the doctor, who can issue an online prescription.
It can be fielded in the rural health units, municipal halls, markets, malls, churches, schools or barangay halls, she added.
It does not replace the health worker and instead augments the shortage in health care workers and health facilities, the company stated.
“We need diagnostic tools for teleconsultation,” Socao-Alumno said, adding that telemedicine has a lot of limitations.
Hospitals are overburdened so barangay health centers and RHUs should be strengthened, with digital tools such as the Health ATM filling the gaps, she stressed.
Asked about the cost of the machine, the Digihealth CEO refused to provide a figure, saying that it would depend on the number of tests or features required by the Provincial Health Office.
In India, where the device was first introduced, going through the Health ATM required payment of a fee while the machine itself has to be maintained with the required reagents and accessories.