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NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session 
)
SENATE
S. No. 2644
24 APR 23
Introduced by Senator Manuel "Lito" M. Lapid
AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A UNIFIED ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS FOR ALL 
PATIENTS OF PUBLIC HOSPITALS AND CLINICS, ESTABLISHING FOR THIS 
PURPOSE THE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD CENTER UNDER THE 
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Constitution, Art. XIII, Section 11 provides that, "The State shall adopt an 
integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor 
to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at 
affordable cost."
In countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Canada, patients 
have access to their own medical records online. Regrettably, the Philippines continues 
to rely on the traditional paper-based medical records, resulting to major problems 
such as lack of standardization across medical service providers, poor searchability, 
and risk of information or data loss1.
In order to address these issues, this bill is filed to grant all patients in every 
hospital and clinic access to their electronic medical records (EMRs). EMRs refer to the 
digital version of a patient's medical background and history, including but not limited
1 Honavar, S. G. (2020, March). Electronic Medical Records - the good, the had and the ugly. 
Indian journal of ophthalmology.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7043175/


to, diagnoses,, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, laboratory tests or 
examinations. In essence, they provide an accurate, up-to-date, and thorough 
documentation of patients' medical profiles.
EMRs are designed to streamline the sharing of all pertinent health information 
about a patient across medical service providers, avoiding limiting such information to 
only medical service provider. This advancement allows for more improved patient 
care, diagnostic accuracy, and overall patient outcomes, as well as for greater patient 
participation, thereby boosting organizational efficiency.
This not only helps healthcare professionals in diagnosing patients more 
effectively through improved coordination of healthcare services but also reduces the 
cases of medical errors and enhances the reliability of prescriptions. Furthermore, this 
approach reduces costs for both medical service providers (through decreased 
paperwork) and patients (through reduced duplication of laboratory tests or 
assessments).
Patients should be afforded the efficiency and accuracy of a secure database 
that would give those in the healthcare service industry the information they need to 
give the proper treatment. The data could likewise be aggregated to provide guidance 
to our health policymakers in giving the necessary attention and resources as may be 
warranted by actual data.
In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.
MANUEL "LITO',M. LAPI
Senator


NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session 
)
SENATE 
S. No. ^644
of the j&rcu-t.'.r;’
24 APR 23 Pp:14d
KliCl'.'.'t 0 BY. y ,
Introduced by Senator Manuel "Lito" M. Lapid
AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A UNIFIED ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS FOR ALL 
PATIENTS OF PUBLIC HOSPITALS AND CLINICS, ESTABLISHING FOR THIS 
PURPOSE THE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD CENTER UNDER THE 
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
1 
SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the "One Electronic
2 
Medical Records Act."
3 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to adopt an
4 
integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor
5 
to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at
6 
affordable cost.
7 
Towards this end, the State shall likewise encourage the integration of
8 
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to modernize, improve, and
9 
streamline the advancement of the healthcare sector. The development of a robust,
10 
accurate, and secure database is hereby considered indispensable in the government's
11 
healthcare program.
12 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act, the following
13 
terms shall mean:
14
15
16
1) Electronic Medical Records refer to the digital compilation of a patient's 
medical profile, background, and history stored on a computer, including 
but not limited to, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization


1 
dates, laboratory tests or examinations. It shall come in a standard
2 
electronic format.
3 
2) Medical Service Providers refer to all medical practitioners, hospitals, clinics,
4 
centers and other similar institutions that provide medical care service and
5 
assistance.
6 
3) Department refers to the Department of Health.
7 
4) Records Center refers to the Electronic Medical Records Center created
8 
under this Act, which shall be an attached agency under the Department of
9 
Health.
10 
5) Secure Socket Layer, also known as SSL, refers to a technology which
11 
negotiates and employs the essential functions of mutual authentication,
12 
data encryption, and data integrity for secure transactions. The SSL security
13 
protocol provides data encryption, server authentication, message integrity,
14 
and client authentication for a TCP/IP connection.
15 
6) 128Lbit encryption refers to a strong method of encryption generated by
16 
every encrypted transaction. The process of encryption hides data or the
17 
contents of a message in such a way that the original information can be
18 
recovered through a corresponding decryption process. Encryption and
19 
decryption are 
common techniques in securing electronic data
20 
communications.
21 
SECTION 4. Establishment, Maintenance, and Uploading of Electronic Medical
22 
Records. - The Department of Health (DOH), with the Department of Information and
23 
Communications Technology (DICT) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation
24 
(PhilHealth) shall establish a unified electronic medical records database that shall be
25 
accessible to all government-run hospitals and medical service providers, PhilHealth
26 
and other public healthcare financing institutions, and patients.
27 
Notwithstanding all provisions of existing laws to the contrary, medical service
28 
provides shall establish and maintain electronic medical records, which shall be
29 
electronically uploaded on a regular basis. The medical service providers shall likewise
30 
maintain hard copies of the electronic records to be printed and stored as back-up
31 
records.


1 
SECTION 5. Electronic Medical Records Center. - There shall be created an
2 
Electronic Medical Record Center to be placed under the Office of the Secretary of the
3 
Department of Health. The center shall serve as a hub of all databanks of medical
4 
records and other pertinent information significant to the patient's medical history.
5 
The Records Center shall generate specialized software to be distributed and
6 
used as the standard platform for the maintenance, updating, uploading, and making
7 
available electronic Medical Records.
8 
The Records Center shall endeavor to create an emergency contact center to
9 
assure the availability of records and assistance to patients accessing medical records
10 
at any time of the day.
11 
SECTION 6. Security Features of Electronic Records. - In order to ensure the
12 
security and privacy of all medical records, electronic communications and
13 
transactions, electronic medical records system shall use 128-bit encryption or higher
14 
form of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology which may be devised in the future.
15 
The electronic medical records shall be kept secure and free from interference
16 
and unauthorized access and for this purpose, it shall be equipped with security
17 
measures to protect the integrity and confidentiality of these records. Provided,
18 
further, that the security features of electronic medical records shall comply with the
19 
security provisions as provided for in Republic Act No. 8792, otherwise known as the
20 
Electronic Commerce Law of 2000.
21 
SECTION 7. Data Privacy and Protection - The information in the electronic
22 
database shall be protected and covered under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and other
23 
pertinent laws on private data. The employees of the Department, hospitals, and
24 
clinics handling personal and sensitive information shall conduct regular training
25 
programs to equip the same with the skills and knowledge on all relevant laws
26 
concerning data privacy and protection.
27
28


1 
SECTION 8. Appropriations. - There is hereby authorized to be appropriated
2 
for the implementation of this Act the amount of One Hundred Million Pesos
3 
(P100,000,000.00) for the initial operations of the Electronic Medical Center as an
4 
attached agency of the Department. Thereafter, such amount needed to implement
5 
this Act shall be included in the Annual Appropriations Act of the Department.
6 
SECTION 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department shall
7 
create a special committee to draft the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR)
8 
governing this Act. Within three (3) months from the effectivity of this Act, the said
9 
special committee shall submit the IRR to the Secretary of the Department who shall
10 
approve the same within thirty (30) days.
11 
SECTION 10. Separability Clause. - If for any reason, any provision of this
12 
Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, parts of provisions of this Act that are not
13 
affected shall continue to be in full force and effect.
14 
SECTION 11. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders,
15 
issuances, rules and regulations, or parts thereof not consistent with the provisions of
16 
this Act are hereby repealed or modified and/or superseded as case may be by this
17 
Act accordingly.
18 
SECTION 12. Effectivity. -This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
19 
complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general
20 
circulation, whichever comes earlier.
Approved,