Residents of the community of Manabao, Jarabacoa will receive online specialized medical and psychological consultations without leaving their municipality

Manabao, Jarabacoa. - To promote access to health services in remote areas of the country, the company IntelliSys and the Pontificia Universidad Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through its Accelerator Lab and Digital X initiative, launched eHospital, a digital pilot to provide specialized medical and psychological care to the rural community of the municipality of Jarabacoa, Manabao.

Through the eHospital platform, virtual medical and psychological consultations will be provided to over 4,000 people in the community of Manabao, who currently have need to travel long distances to attend consultations and receive second and third level medical care.

Using a digital platform, eHospital will enable them to access medical and psychological consultations, receive prescriptions, and follow up on their treatments without having to travel outside their community. The objective is to guarantee access to quality services, decreasing and/or eliminating logistics and transportation costs, and other additional expenses they have to incur to receive medical care.

The app was officially launched during an event led by the Mayor of the District Municipality of Manabao, José Rafael Abreu, doctor José Zapata from the Manabao Primary Attention Center, Chris Corcino, co-founder of IntelliSys and the Cincinnatus Institute, Dalisa Heredia de Corcino, CEO and co-founder of IntelliSys and the Cincinnatus Institute, Kiero Guerra, vice-rector of research at the PUCMM, Cecilia Buchanan, Specialist in Health Services and Systems and Jenniffer Taveras, Head of Experimentation at the UNDP Accelerator Lab.

The Provincial Director of Health of the province of La Vega, Nelson Cosme, Dr. Jael Lizardi Rodríguez, Head of the Health Services Department and Dr. Magali Lopez, Head of the First Level of Care Division of the Cibao Central Regional Health Service, were also in attendance.

The Mayor of the municipality, José Rafael Abreu, recognized and acknowledged the efforts of the implementing team, and stated that the tool "will be a state-of-the-art technology model that will solve access (to healthcare) problems, so that people will not have to leave the community for a medical consultation".

The Head of Experimentation at the UNDP Accelerator Lab highlighted the importance of continuing to close both the gaps to access quality healthcare and the digital gap, to bring basic services closer to vulnerable communities.

"To achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we need to ensure that the Dominican population has immediate access to quality services, and this innovative project, that we have supported through our global network, is a response to this challenge, effectively reducing the logistical and economical barriers that this community faces when accessing healthcare. We hope this will be the first of many to impact," said Taveras.

eHospital was selected as 1 of 10 initiatives supported by UNDP globally, through its digital project accelerator, Digital X, which is funded by the government of Japan, and gives the opportunity to local organizations and UNDP offices to scale innovative ideas to bridge the digital divide in favor of the inclusion of vulnerable communities.

UNDP selected the eHospital initiative, developed in partnership by IntelliSys and PUCMM, to receive mentoring and support from global specialists in software development, project management, user experience design and prototyping, as well as agile methodologies, and delivery of capital for its implementation. With this support, the platform will be able to expand its reach and capacity to impact vulnerable communities in rural areas.

About eHospital

eHospital is a Dominican digital solution created by IntelliSys and PUCMM, to increase access to high quality primary and specialized health care services and improve health indicators in the country and prevent evitable diseases using data science and artificial intelligence.

In its first phase, it was available to over 12,000 people in urban areas. Through the app, users could interact with "Pamela" the platform's first artificial intelligence medical assistant who performed an initial assessment of patients and referred them to a health professional or prompted them to call for emergency care. The platform also allows for online consultations with medical doctors and psychologists.

About Digital X

Digital X is an initiative of UNDP's global digital office, which works as a virtual accelerator to scale digital projects with high social impact that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In its first phase, it is supporting 10 initiatives around the world, among which eHospital is the only one selected for Latin America and the Caribbean.