To provide free doctor consultation to barangay residents from the comfort and safety of their homes and control the spread of Covid-19 in their locality, Barangay San Antonio (BSA) in Pasig City has recently launched a project dubbed as “BSA Online Doctor Consultation.”
“Due to the surge of Covid-19 in Metro Manila and the threat posed by the Delta variant, it is dangerous for our kabarangays to leave their homes because they might catch the dreaded disease,” said BSA Chairman Raymond Lising.
Barangay San Antonio, one of the 30 barangays in Pasig City, is the first barangay to provide free health consultation.
Lising said the program seeks to decongest hospitals and health centers, and eliminate face-to-face interaction between patients and doctors to stop the spread of Covid-19.
“After accessing the link, our residents will have to fill out the online form and provide their basic details to book an appointment with our doctors,” he said referring to the free medical service by just clicking:http://bit.ly/BSAONLINECONSULTATION , or they may also scan the QR code on the barangay’s Facebook page.
“They will be asked for their preferred time and date of consultation.”
He said that barangay’s project is available every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.
“The BSA health center will contact them through the details they provide—either though Facebook name or Viber —before their schedule. The doctor will call them using the mobile phone of our health center,” Lising explained.
As such, he added that the doctor’s prescriptions would be sent by the barangay through Messenger or Viber.
“This is why we came up with this project, in order for kabarangays to no longer leave their homes if they want to see a doctor about their medical condition. They don’t have to spend anything because this is for free,” said Lising.
The barangay chairman said that the program would also protect doctors from exposure to Covid-19, as well as to protect patients.
“To our kabarangays, know that we, at the barangay, are doing everything to make help very accessible to you during these trying times. For now, the best thing you could do is to stay at home to save lives,” he said.
In April 2020, the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) developed a framework for telemedicine services in a bid to improve access to health services during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Under the DOH-NPC Joint Memorandum Circular medical consultations over the phone, chat, short messaging service (SMS), and other audio and visual-conferencing platforms are considered telemedicine services in the country. Health-care providers conducting these consultations are allowed to issue electronic case reports and prescriptions.
“DOH is maximizing the use of technology to connect the public with medical professionals, allowing them to secure medical advice without leaving their homes,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.
The DOH’s collaboration with the NPC seeks to allay concerns on data privacy and confidentiality.
“The DOH-recognized telemedicine providers are registered entities of the NPC. All doctors providing telemedicine services are licensed and certified to provide telemedicine consultations,” the health chief said.