A new Filipino-developed innovation will allow Alternative Intelligence (AI) to aid in medical analysis and diagnosis of patients.
During the product launch in Novaliches on Friday, the 1Life Inc. demonstrated how the DocMate AI system helped speed up the typical consultation process and reduced the time from at least 4 days to make it an hour-long process.
1Life Inc. President Niño Namoco said the system was developed in response to what they noted was a lack of healthcare workers in the country.
“Talagang mayroon tayong kakulangan ng doctors in the Philippines. The latest data, ang Philippines has 3 doctors for every 10,000 population. The problem is… ang ideal ratio based on the World Health Organization should be at least 10 doctors for every 10,000. Right now, we’re only 30%,” he said.
(There really is a shortage of doctors in the Philippines. As of the latest data, the Philippines has 3 doctors for every 10,000 population. The problem is the ideal ratio based on the World Health Organization should be at least 10 doctors for every 10,000. Right now, we’re only 30%.)
“Ang problem ngayon, all medical professionals… (The problem now is that all medical professionals… ) Their main goal is for better opportunities, they go abroad. That’s why we made this innovation, yung DocMate AI, which helps doctors to make accurate diagnosis, at the same time [be] more efficient,” he added.
With the launch of DocMate AI, 1Life Inc. said that doctors will be able to diagnose up to 100 patients in a day without compromising the quality of their analysis due to initial observations made by the system.
“Imagine the burden for the doctors to give quality diagnosis without any tool like this… Medyo mahirap din for them. (It’s a little hard for them.) That’s why we’re making it more easy and more efficient for them. We hope this innovation can help solve the scarcity of doctors in the Philippines right now,” Namoco said.
DocMate AI is a Filipino-developed adaptive technology that is equipped with at least 1 million clean data sets from Filipino patients nationwide.
The system is integrated into 1Life Inc.’s recording system, which is automatically synced to their database and accessible in real time for faster data processing through mobile LAN connection and StarLink Wifi.
Despite its diagnosing capacities, developers assure that the technology may have no affect on the healthcare industry. Instead, the technology may create opportunities for more work in the long-run.
“As a practicing physician, mayroon din kaming mga AI tools, kaya lang ang data nila is usually from other countries and it’s not always the same… The nice thing dito, yung data [ng DocMate AI] is Philippine-based, and it’s very, very important,” said practicing doctor Dr. Minguita Padilla of the Barangay Health & Wellness (BHW) partylist.
(As a practising physician, we also have AI tools, but their data is usually from other countries and it’s not always the same… The nice thing here is that the data [of DocMate AI] is Philippine-based, and it’s very, very important.)
“DocMate AI is here to augment the doctors, not to replace the healthworkers. Ang final say parin natin (The final say) will always be the doctors,” added 1Life Inc. Chief Technology Officer Eric Ke.
“AI is still not at that point yet where you remove human nature. Healthcare will always be a very personal and very sensitive thing. People will always still look for someone to be on the other side of the table and explain that data analysis to them in a way that’s friendly and actionable,” said Global AI Council Philippines Chairman Brian Poe Llamanzares.
As a practicing doctor, Padilla added that AI as a tool can provide “missless” data analysis free of human error.
“AI can only suggest based on all data. Ang kagandahan ng data, it will be missless. Mas konti ang mamimiss niya kaysa human being, kasi tao tayo, (The good thing about the data is that it will be missless. There will be less misses compared to human beings, because we’re only human.)” she said.
“In the end, AI can never replace a human being, but it is there to help us. As a doctor, I am not threatened kasi nga in the end, desisyon parin ng doctor (because in the end, it’s still the doctors’ decision) and the AI can never replace the compassion, personal treatment, and the soul of the doctor,” she added.
Padilla noted that prevention and promotion is the most important part of the Universal Health Care.
“Napakahalaga nitong 1Life at Konsulta, para habang wala pang nararamdaman nadadiagnose na, para di na makaabot sa hospital. 90% of diseases can be managed through primary healthcare, at makakatipid ang tao at makakatipid ang gobyerno,” she shared.
(1Life and Konsulta is very important so that while the patients still feel nothing, they will already be diagnosed, so that it won’t have to reach the hospital. 90% of diseases can be managed through primary healthcare, and all people and the government will be able to save.)
1Life Inc. also clarified that they were a social enterprise and that their system was simply a passion project funded by NGOs and the government.
The system currently has partnerships with PhilHealth’s Consulta and the Department of Health for further development.
“We can implement this nationally… We are accredited by both PhilHealth and DOH. We are partnering with them going around the country,” Namoco shared.
“We are [an] accredited service provider with [DOH]. The good thing is, we are saving around 60% to 70% of the usual cost because of our efficiency,” he added.
Poe added that the partnership between 1Life Inc. and the government would be beneficial should it be expanded.
Namoco shared that they currently had no plans to delve into the private hospitals and practice and is aiming to use their social enterprise to help residents in need of medical assistance.
“The long-term goal talaga as the mission of our company, as we are a social enterprise, is to really help in terms of the implementation of the universal health care of the Philippines—which is free access to free healthcare… We want this talaga [for] every region, and we want to share this technology to other entities like LGUs. If they can implement it properly, they’re welcome to use our technology,” Namoco said.
1Life is now developing a post-consultation application accessible to the public, which will allow them to view their diagnosis and see AI-generated recommendations for healthier lifestyles based on their records.
Medical Missions
Along with the launch, 1Life Inc. also conducted a medical mission for at least 200 residents in Novaliches.
The services began with preliminary prick-testing to record a patient’s sugar level, uric acid, cholesterol, and blood-type.
All of their data will be loaded into the 1LifeSystem and locked with their biometric records, and will be accessible for future medical missions.
After registration and recording of their vital signs, patients are also able to access free Urinalysis Testing, Sonogram, X-Ray, ECG, Blood Testing (CBC), and Prostate Testing on the spot upon recommendation of their doctors.
Patients were able to have their results read in real time by doctors assisted by DocMate AI, and were able to refer them to further laboratory testing if needed.
After analysis, patients were given their printed prescriptions and results right away.
They are also able to receive their results through SMS messaging, sent by the 1LifeSystems after consultation.
According to Namoco, 1Life Inc. has already conducted missions in more than 900 municipalities and more than 70 provinces in almost all regions nationwide.
After medical missions, 1Life Inc. maintains a recording and summary of all the recorded data and provides a record to local government units if needed.
After serving 1 million patients over the past 3 years, the company is now looking into serving 1 million more patients for 2025.
“The more remote the area, the better for us kasi alam namin na ‘yun talaga ‘yung mga may kailangan… Everytime we go to provinces, mayroon talaga kaming kasamang doctors. But if kulang, we have telemed services din… What we give right now is the complete service. We give the system, we have the manpower, kami ‘yung nagiikot sa ngayon. For us, this is the most efficient way to provice technology that operates and manpowers the system,” Namoco shared.
(The more remote the area, the better for us because we know that they really are the ones in need… Everytime we go to provinces, we always have doctors. But if it’s not enough, we have telemed services too… What we give right now is the complete service. We give the system, we have the manpower, we are the ones that roam around right now. For us, this is the most efficient way to provice technology that operates and manpowers the system.)
“[The government] really needs need the help of the private sector just like us because of the innovations in technology and lesser red tape, mas mabilis kumilos. It’s just a matter of finding the right private partners,” he added. — BAP, GMA Integrated News
