from: http://chits.ph/@10/

This month of May marks the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Community Health Information Tracking System or CHITS. The homegrown electronic medical record system developed by the University of the Philippines Manila in 2004. Over the years, this single “seed” of innovation has come a long way since its implementation at the Elvira Lagrosa Health Center in Pasay City.

From its humble beginnings as a “Child Health Injury Tracking System” spearheaded by Dr. Herman Tolentino, Dr. Alvin Marcelo and the Pasay City Health Department through Dr. Marie Irene Sy, CHITS has become an eHealth tool that can improve health information system in the country.

The effect has then rippled out across the public health sector. CHITS made history when it forged partnerships between the public and private sectors through the Wireless Access for Health (WAH) project initiative launched in June 22, 2010. CHITS was a key component that brought the stakeholders together. The system anchors its existence with the support of health personnel such as physicians, midwives, public health nurses, and barangay health workers in the development of the software. The process clearly demonstrated that partnership matters a lot in fostering system ownership and subsequent adoption of the technology.

CHITS continues to evolve in order to provide flexible and cost-effective system to better meet the demands of public health and primary care now and in the future. In 2012, CHITS has made an unprecedented move to migrate to OpenMRS – a global network of open source enterprise electronic medical record system platform. This new platform provides a more robust and scalable digital environment. CHITS has also expanded to other hardware platforms such as Blackberry and android mobile phones; and as an integral component of other eHealth innovations such as the RxBox and rCHITS.

By dedicating a day to celebrate these achievements also provide a platform for different user voices to be heard and reflect upon to maximally benefit from the fruits of this innovation.