New healthcare data app launched

A new healthcare data app called MILA was launched Thursday to help mothers experience hassle-free consultations and proper medical service.

The app allows mothers to keep track of the medical appointments, especially of their young kids, by storing medical documents and notes digitally, such as in the form of photos.

MILA chief marketing officer Ma. Jezzika Kierulf said the app was conceptualized from the company survey which showed 64 percent of Filipino mothers struggled with remembering the medical history of their kids.

She added 50 percent of this group said they have forgotten more than once to bring the baby books of their children when visiting doctors.

“In other countries, they have a centralized approach but it’s more government-led. On our end, we wanted it to be more patient-centric,” MILA chief executive officer Engineer Faustino Salvador Jr. said.

“Some health data are already digital in nature but they only belong to the hospitals. Everyone should manage their own health data,” he added.

Dr. Katrina Florcruz-Dacanay, pediatrician and consultant at Capitol Medical Center and The Medical City, said patients’ ownership of health data offers several benefits, including accurate diagnosis and cheaper medical care.

Costly vax

“Sometimes moms are not sure if a certain vaccine has been given and if you’re going to talk about our guidelines in vaccination, we would rather assume that it was not given. What would happen is that the mother will pay again,” she said.

“Doctors can also come from different institutions. Having this information in one app lets us know what has transpired, what has been given, and what is the plan of the doctor,” Dr. Dacanay continued.

Aside from these, she said the app helps facilitate more collaboration between various medical specialists as medical data is made available more quickly.

Salvador said the app currently focuses on digitalizing children’s health data as the company is building up the app’s capacity over a five-year roadmap.

Through the venture capitalist Kaya Founders and its healthcare software engineers from Pulse 63, Salvador said MILA plans to link the app to portals of doctors, insurance firms, pharmacies, laboratories, and health gadgets.

Salvador added MILA is looking to use data analytics to provide patients with health insights.

MILA app is downloadable on MILA’s website and can be used for free at least within this year, he said.