The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, together with the Philippine Investment and Trade Center- Silicon Valley (PTIC-SV), welcomed a delegation from the Philippines led by Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba and assisted in the conduct of a Health Information Management Services (HIMS) Roadshow in San Francisco on 21- 22 March 2022. The delegation visited San Francisco following its successful participation in a HIMS Conference and Exhibition in Florida this month.
Composed of representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Board of Investments (BOI), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and various health information management companies in the Philippines, including officials of the Health Information Management Association of the Philippines (HIMAP), the delegation held a business dialogue with the Filipino-American business community in San Francisco at the Dynamico Space, Philippine Center.
The business dialogue dubbed, “HIMSS 2022 Key Takeaways: Conversations with the Health Information Management Association of the Philippines,” consisted of two panel discussions: (a) Virtual Care for All /Telehealth: Strengthening the Doctor-Patient connection with the Philippines’ Intrinsic Culture of Care; and (b) Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Powered by the Philippines.
In her remarks during the business dialogue, Deputy Consul General Raquel R. Solano noted that the HIMSS roadshow was a good opportunity to present to the U.S. market, the Philippines’ capabilities in the IT-BPM, particularly in the health care sector, connect with potential business and investment partners, and exchange views on how to grow PH and U.S. businesses together. In discussing PH’s competitive and strategic advantages, she touched on the need to leverage the country’s world-class health information management services which are backed by PH’s leadership in the BPM industry, its large pool of medical professionals, and the Filipinos’ innate trait of “malasakit” or care for others.
Undersecretary Aldaba, in her keynote speech, highlighted the continued strength of the Philippines IT-BPM sector as a top industry destination by US firms, with HIMS sector demonstrating the highest sectoral growth rate. She said that “the adoption of new technologies has led to innovation, as indicated in the entry of new player and creation of new markets. With the Philippines’ conducive business environment and skilled and competitive human resources with proven quality and competence, the PH can be a partner of choice and premier investment destination for global companies in the IT-BPM sector and HIMS services.”
