NU 6 by Bong Canlas AGSB Clark Smartphone Application to Monitor Hospital Bill

Sir, good evening again.  Here is my 4th NU6.  Thanks again.  - Bong Canlas

Smartphone Application to Monitor Hospital Bill

By: Jose Tiburcio S. Canlas

Monitoring of hospital bills has not been easy for patients at Mother Teresa of Calcutta Medical Center.  Actually, inquiries for billing updates may be made in the billing window that is provided for this purpose.  A billing clerk is designated to receive requests for billing updates.  When requested, the billing clerk will print the updated patient statement of account and give it to the requesting party.  The problem here is that, if you are a 142 bed capacity hospital, it is not surprising to see long lines in the billing window. This discourages some patient relatives in falling in line and making inquiries for billing updates.

We have heard many cases of patients or their relatives complaining that they were not aware that their hospital bill has reached such a high amount until the discharge time.  When this happens, patients or their relatives become angry and would normally ask for a meeting with any member of the management team to voice out their complaint.  It is such a waste of management time if this happens over and over again.  Worse, if the patients are really incapable of producing enough funds to settle the final hospital bill, the Credit and Collection Department would have no other option but to authorize the discharge of the patient after signing a promissory note. This adversely affects the liquidity of the hospital.

The solution I have thought regarding this problem is a smartphone application which will be installed to the smartphone provided by the patient upon admission.  This is not possible only for patients who cannot provide a smartphone. But that would be a rare case.  From the time of admission of the patient and the installation of the application, the hospital bill may be monitored from time to time.  The application will also include a calculator which can compute the estimated hospital bill of the patient for every additional day of stay in the hospital.

This installation of the hospital bill application can result to a lot of good things.  First, the patients and their relatives can effectively monitor the hospital bill.  If they find that they are exceeding their budget, they can request to be transferred to lower rate rooms or even to hospitals where rates are lower such as government hospitals.  Second, this will significantly reduce the complaints for unexpected high hospital bills which result to waste of management time.  Third, this will save on office supplies since there would be no need to print the patient statement of account. 4

NU6 - by Bong Canlas AGSB Clark -Cheaper Priced Rooms for TomoTherapy Patients

Cheaper -Priced Rooms for TomoTherapy Patients

By: Jose Tiburcio S. Canlas

Mother Teresa of Calcutta Medical Center will soon start operating its newly acquired cancer treatment equipment, the TomoTherapy.  TomoTherapy performs image – guided radiation treatment using intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).  Compared to linear accelerator, cancer patients get better and faster treatment using TomoTherapy.

According to the study conducted in our hospital, we will be attracting patients not only from Pampanga but also patients from other places is our equipment is just the second TomoTherapy in the Philippines and the only one in Central Luzon.  The first to acquire and operate TomoTherapy is Makati Medical Center.  Each cancer patient will need an average of 20 therapy sessions performed in 20 consecutive days on an outpatient basis.  Patients coming from other places far from the location of our hospital will naturally need rooms where they could lodge in while the 20 day therapy sessions are in progress. 

We have thought of constructing another building so we could have additional hospital medical rooms for our TomoTherapy patients.  However, there are certain staffing requirements by the DOH which need to be complied with in order to operate the additional rooms.  That would be too costly on the part of the hospital.  On the part of the patient, that would entail higher cost also since we will be charging higher rates to recover our higher overhead. <ingenious>

Here is the solution. We will construct another building which will contain non – medical rooms.  If needed, we will create a separate entity to operate these non – medical rooms. The operation of these rooms will not need a DOH license.  We will not need nurses and other medical staff to run these rooms. These rooms will be operated just like apartelle rooms. The rooms will even be larger than medical rooms in order to accommodate the relatives accompanying the patients.  That would save us a lot  on overhead costs and TomoTherapy patients would benefit  from lower priced but much better facilities. 4

NU 6 by Bong Canlas - AGSB Clark - Biometrics for ATM Cards

Hello Sir, this is my 6th NU6. Thanks a lot sir.  - Bong Canlas

Biometrics for ATM Cards

By: Jose Tiburcio S. Canlas

There have been reported cases of unauthorized withdrawals from bank accounts through the use of ATM Cards.  The illegal activity is performed by secreting a card reader with a memory chip into the ATM machine.  When a user then inserts its ATM card into the machine to perform a transaction such as balance inquiry or withdrawal, the card reader copies the data from the ATM card.  A camera is also placed somewhere near the machine in order to acquire the cardholder's personal identification number.

I have one office mate who is maintaining an account with a checkbook and an ATM card. There was a time when he issued a check for a certain amount which he thought was sufficiently funded by his account.  To his surprise, one bank employee called him to inform him of a check he issued for which there was an insufficient fund.  He was forced to go to the bank to inquire of the transactions which led to the loss of his deposits.  He was given a statement of account which showed a series of withdrawals performed in a number of consecutive days until the account was depleted.  He remembered that two days before the unauthorized withdrawal, he made an ATM withdrawal from one of the ATM machines inside Marquee Mall.  He then checked with his bank in what specific locations the unauthorized withdrawals were made.  The specific locations were determined to be in certain places in Manila.  Luckily, there were CCTV cameras in the specific locations that were identified.  Upon reviewing the recorded videos, it turned out that the withdrawals were made by a certain foreign looking man.

Hearing my office mate's story, I myself have decided to limit the use of my ATM cards.  I have thought that as an additional security for the use of ATM cards, why not replace the PIN with the cardholder's biometric fingerprints.  I have thought of this when in one of my visits to the Pampanga capitol, I have seen a GSIS machine which GSIS members can use to check and perform transactions with GSIS.  As I went near the machine and read the instructions for its use, I learned that the cardholder would need to insert his card into the machine and then he would need to insert his right thumb into the biometric reader.  If accepted, then the cardholder can start doing transactions.  I then thought that could also be applied for bank ATM machines.  That would provide more security as the fingerprint would be harder to copy than the personal identification number. 3

NU 6 Mobile Solution for Soil Analysis - from Jose Tiburcio Canlas

Hi Sir, here is my second NU6:

Mobile Solution for Soil Testing

By: Jose Tiburcio S. Canlas

Climate change is a global problem that has affected almost all countries especially those with vast agricultural lands.  Since the Philippines is one country that is vulnerable to climate change, it should be necessary to require a soil analysis on all its agricultural lands.

In an article published at balita.ph, former Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and now head of the India-based International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), William Dar, was quoted saying that if the Philippines will not impose technological advances on soil analysis, we might face 30%-40% reduction in yields. Through soil analysis, micronutrient deficiencies can be detected, such as deficiencies in boron, sulfur and zinc. Hence, as soon as these deficiencies are detected, the farmers will know how to correct them by applying the right treatment. Dar also said the soil analysis and rejuvenation program can potentially increase the yield in most food staples like rice and corn by at least 20 percent. (Ison, 2013)

The Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) is the government agency that offers soil analysis. The earliest possible time to acquire the results of the test for soil analysis is 10 working days as provided by law. "Samples are air dried and analyzed in batch. Usually, the number of samples and the kind of analysis dictate the length of time. The laboratory staff will inform the client if the two-week allowance is not attainable based on the samples submitted and the kind of analysis required. Samples are analyzed based on standard methodologies as prescribed by the American Soil Science Society. The cost of analysis varies."(Bureau of Soils and Water Management, 2014)

BSWM has a package for field technicians known as "Soil Test Kit." This contains chemical mixtures, formulated by the bureau, and a chart where the farmer will compare the color of the soil sample.

As a mobile solution, we can look into the possibility of making this task easier by integrating it in smart phones. We can develop a downloadable Android application (commonly known as "app"), wherein, the farmers will just take a picture of the obtained result and the smart phone will interpret the results right away.

Aside from faster results acquisition, the application presents a more advanced, more accurate and easier way of analyzing soil samples based on the color chart by BSWM via image processing. This mobile solution is also cost-effective and time-saving. 4

References:

Bureau of Soils and Water Management. (2014, March 6). Retrieved from: http://www.bswm.da.gov.ph/Services/LaboratoryAnalysis

Ison, L. G. (2013, January 7). Retrieved from balita.ph: http://balita.ph/2013/01/07/agri-expert-proposes-soil-analysis-of-philippine-farm-lands-to-guide-farmers-on-right-seedlings-fertilizers/

NU6 Increasing Production of Duman by Bong Canlas

Increasing the Production of Duman

Duman is a seasonal unique cereal that is colored green – gold  and is currently produced by certain families in Sta. Rita, Pampanga only in the months of November and December of every year.  It is made of malagung lacatan malutu or young red glutinous rice that is turned into duman by way of manual pounding and unique way of roasting using a wooden stove with low fire just enough to maintain and preserve the softness of the grains while avoiding the turning of the grains into pinipig.  Duman enthusiasts usually pair it with chocolateng batirol or hot carabao milk.  Because of the shortage of supply of duman, it is relatively expensive and is sold at no less than PHP 1,250.00 for every 800 grams. 

In the past years, only few people knew about this duman from Sta. Rita, Pampanga.  But as years went by, more and more people came to know about and like duman.  And even if these people are willing to pay for its high price, the supply problem persists, since duman is only available in November and December and never on other months of the year. Duman is not sold in stores or even in the market place.  You can only buy duman if you know the families who produce them or at the designated place for the duman festival which is celebrated on the first week of December.  What contributes more to the shortage in supply is that there are families who buy their one year supply of duman and store their foil - wrapped duman stocks in their refrigerators.

What contributes to the scarcity of duman?  The planting of this unique variety of red glutinous rice is best done during the rainy season, preferably during the months of June to August. It is said that the plants would bear grains only when they feel the "tiup ning amiam or the cold northerly wind"¹.  That is the reason why harvesting is done only in November and December.  It is also believed that harvesting in the months of January or February would leave a "bitter aftertaste"¹ to the duman.  Thus, it is useless to plant during the other months of the year.

How do we increase the supply of duman in order to make it available to more people and at a lower price?    I believe it would help if we could ask assistance from the rice experts of UPLB so they could do a research on other varieties of glutinous rice which could be used for the production of duman.  To solve the problem of limited land area which could be used for planting the red glutinous rice, it is better to share the planting procedures to other farmers living in cool regions like the Cordilleras and encourage them to plant this red glutinous rice.  Lastly, we can also grow this red glutinous rice in greenhouses where the ideal temperature and humidity for growing it may be controlled and maintained.  As to the conversion of the harvested red glutinous rice into duman, I think it's about time that the secrets of duman – making are shared to interested parties. 3.5 (unknown author)

Reference:

¹ Duman: Stepping Back in Time; author unknown; retrieved from http://santaritapampanga.gov.ph/index.php/about-santa-rita/news-events/140-duman-festival