Japan Association for Medical Informatics

[AP3-E2-1-01] OHIDAS Toolkit, the PHC, and Tanya Pakar: A Multi-level, Vertically Integrated Digital Health Promotion, Primary Prevention and Telemedicine Provision Programme

*Nicholas Pang1, Helen Benedict Lasimbang1, Mohd. Hanafi Ahmad Hijazi2, Mohd Nizar Bin Hamild1, Mohd Azhar Bin Dris1, Wendy Shoesmith3, Fumihiko Yokota4, Rafiqul Islam Maruf5, Naoki Nakashima5 (1. Hospital Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia, 2. Pusat Pengurusan Data dan Maklumat, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia, 3. Fakulti Perubatan dan Sains Kesihatan, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia, 4. Institute of Decision Science for Sustainable Society, Kyushu University, Japan, 5. Medical Information Centre, Kyushu University Hospital, Kyushu University, Japan)

OHIDAS, Wellness, Telemedicine, Smart Health, PHC

Multiple challenges abound in Malaysian healthcare delivery, including a high prevalence of non-communicable disease associated with poorly reinforced lifestyle practices, service delivery challenges in primary care, and difficulty in adapting English-languge evidence-based research to Kadazan culture-specific health beliefs. University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) University Hospital (HUMS) conceptualized a three-pronged, vertically integrated digital health system to address these shortfalls intelligently. Firstly, a mobile application called OHIDAS (“health” or “wellness” in the local Kadazan language) was built to serve two major objectives namely promoting healthy lifestyle practices among the community and advocating for health screening prior to illness to maintain health and well-being in our communities and prevent illness caused through NCDs. There are four stages of OHIDAS; health promotion and primary prevention, telemedicine, capturing of patients’ bioinformatics, and full integration of clinical care with mobile application. Secondly, a proprietary telemedicine system called Tanya Pakar was developed and expedited in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thirdly, HUMS collaborated with Kyushu University to develop a Malaysian Portable Health Clinic which heightens rural access to tertiary level healthcare through a synergy of telemedicine, trained human capital, and portable health devices. In conclusion, OHIDAS has the potential to become a highly effective tool for health promotion and primary prevention.