TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
)
25 JUL “3 r 6 9
S. No.
SENATE
139
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
Article XIII, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution 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 such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Canada, 
patients already enjoy access to their medicai records oniine. Regrettably, the 
Philippines still relies heavily on traditional paper-based medical records, which leads 
to several major issues—such as the iack of standardization among heaithcare 
providers, poor searchabiiity, and a heightened risk of data ioss.
To address these challenges, this bill seeks to grant all patients in every hospital 
and clinic access to their electronic medical records (EMRs). EMRs are digital versions 
of a patient's medical history, which include—but are not limited to—diagnoses.


medications, treatment plans, immunization records, and laboratory test results. 
These digital records provide accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive documentation 
of a patient's medical profile.
EMRs are designed to facilitate the secure and efficient sharing of relevant 
health information among authorized medical service providers. This system 
eliminates the limitation of having a patient's data confined to a single provider. As a 
result, EMRs enhance patient care, improve diagnostic accuracy, support better health 
outcomes, and promote patient engagement—while also increasing the operational 
efficiency of healthcare facilities.
By improving coordination among healthcare professionals, EMRs enable more 
effective diagnosis and treatment. They reduce the risk of medical errors and improve 
the reliability of prescriptions. Moreover, they help reduce administrative burdens for 
healthcare providers and prevent unnecessary duplication of tests and assessments, 
thereby lowering healthcare costs for both providers and patients.
Patients deserve the benefits of a secure, efficient, and accurate database that 
equips healthcare professionals with the information necessary to deliver appropriate 
and timely care. Additionally, aggregated EMR data can serve as a valuable resource 
for policymakers, providing evidence-based insights that can inform decisions on 
healthcare priorities, resource allocation, and policy development.
In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.
Senator


TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
)
2b JUL-3 36:19
SENATE
S. No. 139
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 (EMR) 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.


1 
immunization dates, laboratoty tests or examinations. It shali come in a
2 
standard electronic format.
3 
2) Medical Service Providers refer to all medical practitioners, hospitals, clinics,
4 
centers and other simiiar institutions that provide medical care service and
5 
assistance.
6 
SECTION 4. Establishment, Maintenance, and Upioading of Eiectronic Medical
7 
Records. - The Department of Health (DOH), with the Department of Information and
8 
Communications Technology (DICT) and the Philippine Heaith Insurance Corporation
9 
(PhilHealth) shall establish a unified electronic medical records (EMR) database that
10 
shall be accessible to all government-run hospitals and medical service providers,
11 
PhilHeaith and other public heaithcare financing institutions, and patients.
12 
Notwithstanding all provisions of existing iaws to the contrary, medicai service
13 
provides shall establish and maintain electronic medicai records, which shaii be
14 
eiectronicaiiy upioaded on a reguiar basis. The medicai service providers shali likewise
15 
maintain hard copies of the eiectronic records to be printed and stored as back-up
16 
records.
17 
The DOH may estabiish guideiines for portability of EMR for use by private
18 
medical institutions subject to reievant data privacy iaws.
19 
SECTION 5. Electronic Medicai Records Center. - There shali be created an
20 
Electronic Medicai Record (EMR) Center to be piaced under the Office of the Secretary
21 
of the Department of Health. The center shall serve as a hub of all databanks of
22 
medical records and other pertinent information significant to the patient's medicai
23 
history.
24 
The EMR Center shall generate specialized software or application, as may be
25 
practicabie, to be distributed and used as the standard piatform for the maintenance,
26 
updating, uploading, and making avaiiable EMR.
27 
The EMR Center shall endeavor to create an emergency contact center to
28 
assure the availability of records and assistance to patients accessing medical records
29 
at any time of the day.


1 
SECTION 6. Data Security-The EMR system shall comply fully with the Data
2 
Privacy Act of 2012 (RA No. 10173). The DOH, in coordination with the National
3 
Privacy Commission (NPC), shall issue implementing rules and regulations (IRRs)
4 
covering:
5 
1) End-to-end encryption of patient data;
6 
2) Role-based access controls and multi-factor authentication;
7 
3) Redundant data storage;
8 
4) Data breach response protocols;
9 
5) Audit trails and regular privacy impact assessments
10 
The EMR shall be kept secure and free from interference and unauthorized
11 
access and for this purpose, it shall be equipped with security measures to protect the
12 
integrity and confidentiality of these records. Provided, further, that the security
13 
features of electronic medical records shall comply with the security provisions as
14 
provided for in Republic Act No. 8792, otherwise known as the Electronic Commerce
15 
Law of 2000.
16 
The EMR Center shall endeavor to use state-of-the-art technology to protect its
17 
data against unauthorized access, breach, or other activities that compromise its
18 
integrity.
19 
SECTION 7. Training and Capacity Building- The DOH shall allocate funds for
20 
training healthcare personnel, including physicians, nurses, administrative staff, and
21 
IT support teams, on the use and maintenance of the EMR system. This shall include
22 
online modules, in-person workshops, and continuous learning support.
23 
SECTION 8. EMR Support Services - All institutions authorized to input
24 
information in the EMR shall have access to technical support services from the EMR
25 
Center. The EMR Center shall ensure reasonable access to information to authorized
26 
entities.
27 
SECTION 9. Monitoring and Evaluation - A dedicated unit within the EMR
28 
Center shall:


1 
1) Conduct regular system functionality and data quality audits;
2 
2) Monitor compliance with data privacy and cybersecurity standards;
3 
3) Collect and analyze user feedback; and
4 
4) Report to Congress and the public annually on EMR system performance,
5 
challenges, and progress.
6 
SECTION 10. Appropriations. - There is hereby authorized to be appropriated
7 
for the implementation of this Act the amount of One Hundred Million Pesos
8 
(P100,000,000.00) for the initial operations of the Electronic Medical Center as an
9 
attached agency of the Department. Thereafter, such amount needed to implement
10 
this Act shall be included in the Annual Appropriations Act of the Department.
11 
SECTION 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department shall
12 
create a special committee to draft the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR)
13 
governing this Act. Within three (3) months from the effectivity of this Act, the said
14 
special committee shall submit the IRR to the Secretary of the Department who shall
15 
approve the same within thirty (30) days.
16 
SECTION 12. Separability Clause. - If for any reason, any provision of this
17 
Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, parts of provisions of this Act that are not
18 
affected shall continue to be in full force and effect.
19 
SECTION 13. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders,
20 
issuances, rules and regulations, or parts thereof not consistent with the provisions of
21 
this Act are hereby repealed or modified and/or superseded as case may be by this
22 
Act accordingly.
23 
SECTION 14. Effectivity. -This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
24 
complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general
25 
circulation, whichever comes earlier.
Approved,