November 17, 2025 – The Road Safety Connectathon 2025, organized by the National Telehealth Center – National Institutes of Health (NTHC-NIH), officially began its five-day program (November 17–21) at the Sotogrande Hotel Katipunan with Day 1: Foundations of Healthcare Interoperability. The training was attended by representatives from various sectors, including emergency medical services, hospitals, transport authorities, public health institutions, and IT teams, highlighting the collaborative effort required to improve road safety data systems in the Philippines.
The day began with preliminaries facilitated by the Medical Informatics Unit of UP College of Medicine, followed by a context-setting session on the SIL-PH Project delivered by Director Arturo Ongkeko Jr., RN, MSc of UP NTHC. Director Ongkeko discussed the persistent challenges in the country’s road safety data system, including fragmented reporting across emergency medical services, hospitals, and public health surveillance systems that largely operate in silos. This session set the stage for participants to understand the need for standardized and interoperable data systems to improve road safety monitoring and response.
Core plenary sessions were led by Dr. Iris Thiele Isip-Tan of the UP Manila Medical Informatics Unit, introducing essential interoperability concepts. Topics included core terminology, the standards lifecycle, levels of interoperability, and FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) Implementation Guides. These sessions provided participants with a strong theoretical foundation on how healthcare data can be structured and shared across different systems for improved decision-making and patient outcomes.
In the afternoon, participants joined parallel sector-specific workshops designed to address their specific roles. Decision-makers attended a session on Program Management for Interoperability, facilitated by Dr. Ma. Sergia Fatima Sucaldito; healthcare teams engaged in Semantic Mapping for Subject Matter Experts, facilitated by Dr. Lisa Traboco; and IT professionals participated in Understanding Data Integration Points, facilitated by Dr. Michael Fong. These interactive workshops allowed participants to apply the morning’s concepts in practical exercises, preparing them for the technical exercises to come.
The Connectathon, scheduled for Days 3 to 5, will serve as a test environment designed to harmonize over 200 road safety data elements and test the flow of information between emergency management systems, hospitals, and national surveillance records. By standardizing minimum datasets and aligning them with FHIR global messaging standards, the Connectathon aims to create a more interoperable and cohesive road safety data ecosystem in the Philippines, enabling faster and more accurate responses to road incidents and improved public health reporting.
Day 1 successfully concluded, equipping participants with a solid understanding of interoperability principles, FHIR standards, and their roles in developing a unified road safety data framework. The knowledge gained during the training will be essential as participants move into the Connectathon activities, which will involve hands-on testing, mapping, and aligning of road safety workflows across multiple sectors.