History of Nursing Informatics inthe Philippines

1. The Philippine nursing community have longsought to keep up with increasing use
ofinformation and technology in the healthcaresystem. Nursing Informatics follows
thefootsteps of biomedical informatics which hasgained relative popularity earlier than its
otherallied medical counterparts. Despite being inits early stages of development
thesubspecialty of nursing informatics on thePhilippines have more than decade of whichled
to future programs and activities.

2. Some of the major milestones in nursinginformaticshistory in the Philippines which includes

theparticipation of the Philippine NursesAssociation (PNA) in the development ofStandards
for Health Information in thePhilippines(SHIP) in 1999, the formation ofthe Master of Science
in Health Informatics(MSHI) whichbegan in 2005 and the formation of thePhilippine Nursing
Informatics Association(PNIA) in 2010 as a sub-specialtyorganization of PNA for nursing
informatics.

3. Introduction:The words "nursing informatics"were unfamiliar among the nursingcommunity

until theyear 2008. There were only a handful ofpeople with knowledge and experience
innursing informatics but the disciplinehave not yet found its recognition as asub-specialty of
nursingarts and science in the country. Theorigin of this budding discipline indirectlycame
fromthe pioneers of health informatics in the

4. The Philippine Medical Informatics Society(PMIS) and its founders had stronginfluence inthe
development of health informatics inthe Philippines. The PMIA was officiallyregisteredunder
the Securities and ExchangeCommission in 1996 by its boardcomposed of elevenphysician.
The organization was headedby Dr. Alvin Marcelo.

5. OriginsSince 1998, several faculty members ofthe University of the Philippines beganformal
education and training. Dr. HermanTolentino took a post-doctoral fellowship inmedical
informatics at the University oWashington. Dr. Alvin Marcelo followed ayear later for his
training at the NationalLibrary of Medicine. Dr. Cito Maramba wentto Coventry for his
Masters in InformationSciences at the University of Warwick. Theywere later followed by
other physicians suchas Dr. Micheal Muin and Dr. Ryan Bañez.

6. 7. By the year 2003, a Master of Science inHealth Informatics was proposed to be offeredby
UP-Manila College of Medicine (major inmedical informatics) and the College of Artsand
Science (major in bioinformatics) and waslater approved to be offered starting academicyear
2005-2006. In 1999, a study group wasformed headed by the National Institute ofHealth of
the University of the PhilippinesManila.

7. 8. This group identified international standardsfor health information and their adaptabilityin
the Philippines. The document is referredto as the "Standards of Health Informationin the
Philippines, 1999 version" or"SHIP99".Representatives from various sectorscollaborated on
this project including thePhilippine Nurses Association (PNA) in theperson of Ms. Evelyn
Protacio.

8. 9. CHED as a CatalystThe nursing community was still yet to follow itsinternational

counterparts in the adoption of information,communication and technology in nursing
practice in thePhilippines. Despite the inclusion of Informatics coursein the undergraduate
curriculum which focused on basicdesktop applications, the need for genuine
nursinginformatics course had not yet been realized. In 2008,Nursing Informatics course in
the undergraduatecurriculum was defined by the Commission on HigherEducation (CHED)
Memorandum Order 5 Series of2008. This was later revised and included as
 HealthInformatics course in CHED Memorandum Order 14Series of 2009. This will be first
implemented in thesummer of 2010.

9. 10. Organization Early in 2009, Mr. Kristian R. Sumabat and Ms.Mia Alcantara-Santiago,

both nurses and graduate students of Master of Science in Health Informatics at the
University of the Philippines, Manila begandrafting plans to create a nursing
informaticsorganization. In February 2010, they began recruitingother nursing informatics
specialists and practitionersto organize a group which later became as thePhilippine Nursing
Informatics Association.

10. 11. They were joined by founding members Ms.Sheryl Ochea, a graduate of MAster of
Sciencein Nursing major in nursing informatics atXavier University (Ohio, USA), Ms.
AlexrandraBernal, a graduate student and telehealthnurse of the National Telehealth Center,
Ms.Pia Pelayo, a former telehealth nurse and aproject coordinator of the
NationalEpidemiology Center, Department of Healthand Mr. Sid Cardenas, also a telehealth
nurse.Other founding members include Mr. NoelBañez, Ms. Rona Abcede, and Mr.
HarbyOngbay Abellanosa.

11. 12. Issues and ChallengesLike many other disciplines, nursinginformatics face many
challenges while in itsinfancy stage. The inclusion of informaticsas an integral part of the
undergraduatecurriculum has been one of the mostinfluential factors for the
increasedawareness and interest in this field ofnursing. However, the contents of
thecurriculum was adapted from international materials which does not match the local
needs.

12. 13. A community-centered approach to the useof information, communication and

technologyin nursing practice must be adapted toensure the impact of the program in the
localhealthcare system. Lack of certification andcredentialing programs in post-graduate
levelsare also absent with the scarcity of localnursing informatics experts. This new field
hasyet to gain acceptance and recognition in thenursing community as a sub-specialty.

13. 14. Future DirectionDevelopment of training, certification andcredentialing programs are in

the pipeline for thePhilippine Nursing Informatics Association. Futurepartnerships with local
and international nursingand health informatics organizations have startedas well. Other
programs are expected to be slowlydelivered with PNIAs CORE X strategic platformwhich
stands for Competency, Organization,Recognition, Experience and Expertise. It is also
amajor thrust to support the use of healthinformation standards in the Philippines and tohave
nursing informatics specialists in everyhospital in the country.