THE local information and communication technology industry is initiating a province-wide conference on healthcare information management (HIM) as a measure to aggressively push Negros Occidental, especially Bacolod City, as potential location for HIM-related jobs and investments.
The Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (Bnefit) has collaborated with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and MedStar Philippines HealthCare Information Management Corp. for the hosting of the 1st Bacolod HIM Conference at SMX Convention Center Bacolod on August 17 and 18.
MedStar Philippines, which specializes in training and placing certified medical coders and billers, has chosen the city to be their first site for training and deployment.
HIM, according to American Healthcare Information Management Association, is the practice of acquiring, analyzing, and protecting digital and traditional medical information vital in providing quality patient care.
It is a combination of business, science, and information technology, the organization added.
Lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, executive director of Bnefit, on Wednesday, July 26, said the conference aims to gather all local stakeholders to scale-up the potentials of the countryside in attracting HIM jobs, opportunities and investments.
"It is also geared towards bringing everyone on the same page in the area of HIM education and training," Batapa-Sigue added.
The two-day conference will gather participants comprised of graduating students from all medical, health and information technology (IT)-related courses.
Also attending are local government officials, top level executives from colleges, universities and training institutions, medical, healthcare and IT companies, representatives of national and local agencies, real estate developers, and other private sector stakeholders.
Batapa-Sigue said that through the activity Bnefit is eyeing to explore potential synergies in creating innovative platforms for delivering global HIM services.
The conference also aims to discover the importance of HIM education to create jobs, and investments for countryside development, and create conducive ecosystem for the industry, she added. (EPN with reports from PNA)