Introduction

With the global COVID-19 pandemic declared in 2020, the streamlined processing of health information has become more important than ever. The rapidly changing situation called for robust systems where data is easily and seamlessly transmitted to the necessary stakeholders. Early in the pandemic, the Philippines saw the need for case tracking and contact tracing, and eventually vaccination tracking. Despite the initial challenges and difficulties, the country was able to establish different working systems that handled case tracking, health care facility occupancy, and vaccination status. As the pandemic evolved over the last 2 years, the way data was managed locally has also changed. The goal of this study was to give an assessment and evaluation of the interoperability in Health Information Systems involving COVID-19 data in the country. Important stakeholders involved in the management of COVID-19 data were identified and asked to comprehensively describe the management of COVID data at a local and national level.

Methods

The study was a descriptive study, which involved the identification of important stakeholders involved in COVID-19 data management. An in-depth interview tool was developed based on the framework given by IDAIR. Once the interviews were completed, common themes were identified from the transcripts and notes. These key themes and keywords were generated using NVIVO and the findings were summarized using the framework provided.

Discussion and Conclusion

Effective interoperability is important for clinical care and managing public health. Nationally, vaccine and case data reached a point where both are organized systematically under VIMS and Covid Kaya, though it should be noted that there are weaknesses with reliability, granularity, and timeliness. These datasets unfortunately are not linked to each other, nor are they linked to surveillance systems, which means that some information is impossible to find (e.g., what brand of vaccine someone received who subsequently tests positive).

The Philippines has also developed a disease surveillance system, an eHealth law (which has not been passed) and a strategic plan in 2016 (which has not been implemented or updated). A Joint Administrative Order with the DOH and DICT made FHIR the standard for health services interoperability; however, this also has yet to be implemented. Many involved in the sector see that digital health has greatly expanded during Covid but there is a need for a more coherent plan. However, the Philippines has been lacking the strong data governance required. Foundations for a truly interoperable health data system are in place, greatly accelerated during Covid, but so far there is a lack of political will.