Being one of Northern Luzon’s busiest and well esteemed hospitals, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center has been continuously making changes to improve the delivery of its health services. For 115 years now, the institution has been catering its services not only to the people of the Cordillera but also to nearby provinces like Pangasinan and La Union, and to patients traveling as far off as the Visayas. And all of this compassion, passion and determination emanated from the hospital’s commitment to quality health services and continued learning.
In its values to become competent and to promote transformational leadership, BGHMC has teamed up to spearhead the first ever “E-Prescription” in the Philippines and is hoping to make an impact not only to the institution but also to other health institutions. For the first time, Medicine and Information Technology combine, resulting to faster and more efficient health services.
The E Prescription project was headed by Mrs. Maritess Baloran, a Registered Nurse as well as Information Technology specialist. With her creative IT team, they have made into reality a way to make prescribing, dispensing and delivering medications easier through a database called “Computerized Doctor’s Orders Entry” that facilitates the communication between the physicans, the Pharmacy and the Nursing service. This is made possible by the institutionalized Health Information System that connects medical transactions with patients’ records.
The Computerized Doctor’s Entry or CDOE allows the hospital’s physicians to easily prescribe the daily medication of all patients through paperless transactions.
These orders are then received immediately by the Pharmacy resulting to efficiency in preparing and dispensing the needed supplies. Once these are ready, the Nursing service staff are dispensed with the medication and supplies for patients’ consumption.
It was a big ambitious project that became possible with the efforts of a determined team and a supportive hospital administration. And like all beginnings, the conceptualization and implementation of this project didn’t come easy. Pilot studies to test the project have been done prior its implementation. With trial and error, and after catering to the needs of those who will utilize the E prescription as well as considering the limitations of the institution, the project is now in progress and is in the process of being implemented hospital wide. It has since become a pride of the hospital.
In a fast tracked world with everything being “one click away”, the E prescription shows BGHMC standing up to the challenge of efficiently reaching out its services and keeping up to the standards of quality care por el bien de la comunidad (for the good of the community).
To our dear patients, thank you for the loyalty and trust you give to our institution. We will continue to fulfill our mission to serve you better, The Bag-iw Way.
By:
Carisse Maria Tactay
Department of Orthopedics
Medical Division