TELEMEDICINE TO SOLVE THE SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS

TELEMEDICINE TO SOLVE THE SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS Have you heard some people say that many Filipinos die without seeing a doctor? I did not believe that at first, but then I realized later on that it is true. At first, I thought that the problem is affordability, meaning that people could not afford the cost of seeing a doctor, but I understood later on that it is a problem of availability or accessibility, because there are simply not enough doctors who could see all the patients. As of 2022, there was roughly one doctor for every 26,000 people in the Philippines. That is only the national average, because in BARMM and Region 11, the ratio is roughly one doctor for every 40,000 people. It appears however that part of the problem is that many doctors are not practicing. Out of about 159, 283 doctors, 95, 039 are practicing, 40.3% are not practicing (about 2 out of 5). It is estimated that the number of Filipino doctors who are now working abroad is about 10,000. Not unless we will encourage the hybrid approach of doctor-to-patient consultations via both face-to-face (in person) and via online (telemedicine), we will never have enough doctors who could consult with their patients when needed. This is something that we could do already, since the internet is now accessible in many places, even in the provinces. I believe that if we do this, many doctors who are not practicing now will decide to practice again, thus increasing the availability of doctors. Even those doctors who are abroad could still practice remotely via online. IKE SENERES/09088877282/3-29-2024