Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ______ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. HARRIS CHRISTOPHER M. ONGCHUAN 
       EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Philippine Health Agenda 2016-2022 proposes that the country invest in 
eHealth towards a more inclusive Philippine health system for all. The World Health 
Organization in partnership with the Department of Health plans to strengthen health 
systems and improve the quality, safety and access to care by integrating information 
and communication technologies with the current health system. 
This bill proposes the establishment of the National eHealth System (NeHS) 
that would facilitate inter-agency and inter-sectoral coordination within the 
healthcare system by providing a platform for electronic consultations and 
prescriptions, along with keeping a database of medical records. The NeHS will 
provide and support health care delivery, including diagnosis, consultation, 
treatment, and exchange of health data and education. 
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, older persons and those with existing 
health conditions do not have the luxury to go outside and risk exposing themselves 
to the virus. The investment in a fully-functioning eHealth system would greatly 
benefit the goal of providing universal health care access to all Filipinos, especially 
those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas. 
This bill was first filed by Representatives Yap, Tan, and Salo in the 18th 
Congress. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and was 
transmitted to the Senate.  
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
HARRIS CHRISTOPHER M. ONGCHUAN 
August 30, 2022
8:02 am
4138


 Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  _________ 
Introduced by Representative 
HARRIS CHRISTOPHER M. ONGCHUAN 
AN ACT  
ESTABLISHING THE PHILIPPINE ELECTRONIC HEALTH OR eHEALTH 
SYSTEM AND SERVICES IN SUPPORT OF UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE, AND 
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "eHealth System and 
Services Act". 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the policy of the State to protect and 
promote the right to health of all Filipinos and instill health consciousness among 
them. Toward this end, the State shall institutionalize a system of providing wide 
access to quality health information and services using information and 
communication technology (ICT), referred to as the National eHealth System (NeHS), 
resulting in better health outcomes for every Filipino, and further recognizing whole-
of-society and whole-of-government approaches.  
The NHS shall be integrated, comprehensive, interoperable, progressive, secure and 
sustainable based on best current and future practices, and shall facilitate inter-
agency and inter-sectoral coordination at various levels of governance covering both 
the public and private sectors. It shall recognize eHealth as supplemental and 
complementary with other health care delivery methods to the extent allowable by 
4138


existing laws, provide and support health care delivery, including diagnosis, 
consultation, treatment, transfer of care of patient, exchange of health data and 
education, especially in medically unserved and underserved geographically isolated 
and disadvantaged areas (GIDA).  
SECTION 3. Objectives. — This Act shall provide a holistic framework that 
establishes a NeHS, which shall: 
a) Set policies, standards, priorities, plans, programs and projects that promote 
and ensure streamlined and safely regulated delivery of eHealth services to 
reduce inequalities, achieve universal healthcare, and better health outcomes; 
and 
b) Clarify rules of agencies, institutions and entities regarding their performance 
and accountabilities in building national and local eHealth capacity and 
measuring results.  
SECTION 4. Scope and Application. — This Act covers all existing health care 
providers and other entities developing and using eHealth systems, services and 
applications and tools, whether public or private, including relevant standard 
equipment in the field of health and ancillary services that use ICT and are 
complementary to existing minimum modalities or standards of health care and 
other means of access to information.  
SECTION 5. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act: 
a) Compliant eHealth services and applications refer to the requirements of a 
defined architecture of eHealth standards that enable services and systems, 
allow for interoperability of health services and information exchange across 
geographic, organizational, network, vendor boundaries, and ensure data 
protection in accordance with Republic Act No. 10173, otherwise known as the 
“Data Privacy Act” and other related laws and issuances; 
b) eHealth or Electronic health refers to the use of cost-effective and secure 
information and communications technology for healthcare practice, also 
referred to as digital health;  
c) eHealth data services refer to key architectural data registries of the health 
sector needed to enable and support large scale health information 
interoperability and exchange; 
d) eHealth System refers to the interplay of enabling and foundational elements 
essential for a successful national eHealth implementation, namely, (1) 
governance and accountability, (2) standards and interoperability, (3) services 
and operations, (4) telehealth, (5) human resources, (6) infrastructure, (7) 


strategy and investment, (8) monitoring and compliance, and (9) research and 
development; 
e) eHealth services and applications refer to the solutions, products and 
innovations with defined objectives to serve its intended clients or users, such 
as health information systems, electronic medical record systems, electronic 
health record system, enterprise resource planning system, ePharmacy system, 
laboratory system, radiology system, electronic prescription system, human 
resource information system, registry systems, mobile health, telehealth, 
telemedicine, wearables, and biomedical and related devices with ICT 
component; 
f) Electronic health record (EHR) refers to a computerized health record used to 
capture, store, access and share information of a patient between and across 
healthcare providers and health-related entities;  
g) Electronic medical record (EMR) refers to a computerized medical record 
used to capture, store and share information of a patient to health care 
providers in an institution or organization;  
h) Electronic prescription (ePrescription) refers to a system that allows 
healthcare providers to write and send prescriptions in an automated or 
electronic way to a pharmacy with capability to receive such; 
i) Geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) refer to barangays 
specifically disadvantaged due to the presence of both physical and socio-
economic factors. For a barangay to be classified as a GIDA, both physical and 
socio-economic factors must be present: 
i) 
Physical factors are characteristics that limit the delivery of and/or 
access to basic health services to communities that are difficult to reach 
due to distance, weather conditions, and transportation difficulties; 
ii) 
Socio-economic factors are social, cultural, and economic characteristics 
of the community that limit access to and utilization of health services;  
j) Health sector enterprise architecture refers to the blueprint on which eHealth 
services and applications shall be developed, implemented, and scaled up; and 
k) Information and communications technology refers to all technologies for the 
communication of information, which include data, application or information 
systems, internet, network, connectivity, telecommunications, among others. 
SECTION 6. Implementing Agency. — The Department of Health (DOH) shall be the 
lead implementing agency to carry out the provisions of this Act. The DOH shall 
strengthen and transform its existing Knowledge Management and Information 
Technology Service (KMITS) into a full-fledged Bureau, to be called as the National 
eHealth Information and Services Bureau (NeHISB), and which shall perform the 
overall management and administration of this Act. The additional plantilla position 


to be created for this purpose shall be submitted to the Department of Budget and 
Management (DBM) for evaluation and approval.  
The Bureau shall also serve as a secretariat of the eHealth Policy and Coordination 
Council as provided in Sec. 8 hereof. 
 
SECTION 7. Regional and Local Implementation Structures and Staffing Pattern. — 
To assist in the implementation of this Act, the regional organizational structures 
shall be lodged under the Center for Health Development of the DOH while local 
organizational structures shall be subject to the discretion of the local government 
units (LGUs) in relation to Section 76 of R.A. No. 7160 or the “Local Government 
Code of 1991.”  
SECTION 8. Creation of the eHealth Policy and Coordination Council. - There shall 
be created an independent body to be known as the eHealth Policy and Coordination 
Council, hereby referred to as the Council, to provide and promote relevant policies 
and guidelines for the effective coordination and implementation of this Act. The 
Council shall be composed of the following key officials: 
a) Secretary, DOH - Chairperson 
b) Secretary, DICT - Co-Chairperson 
c) President & Chief Executive Officer, PhilHealth - Co-Chairperson 
d) Secretary, DOST; 
e) Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); 
f) Secretary, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG); 
g) Secretary, DBM; 
h) Chancellor, University of the Philippines - Manila (UPM); 
i) Chairman, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC); 
j) Chairperson, Commission on Higher Education (CHED); 
k) Chairperson, National Privacy Commission (NPC); 
l) National Statistician, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA); 
m) Two (2) representatives from professional medical or health societies; 
n) One (1) representative from patients’ group; and 
o) One (1) representative from the ICT industry associations. 
The heads of government agencies may be represented by a designated official whose 
rank shall not be lower than Assistant Secretary or its equivalent. Members 
representing the private sector shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines 
not later than 30 days after the effectivity of this Act and shall serve for a term of three 
(3) years, renewable upon recommendation of the Council, for a maximum of two (2) 
consecutive terms.  


The government agency-members of the Council, shall have the authority to act upon 
and decide on all urgent matters pending the formation of the Council and the 
appointment of the members from the private sector by the President of the 
Philippines.  
SECTION 9. Powers and Duties of the Council. - The Council shall exercise the 
following powers and functions: 
a) Define and promote overall eHealth policies, standards and regulations at all 
levels of health care system, public and private; 
b) Ensure integration and coordination of national and local eHealth strategies 
and initiatives; and 
c) Submit yearly assessments and accomplishment reports to the Senate 
Committee on Health and Demography and the House of Representatives 
Committee on Health for performance monitoring and evaluation. 
SECTION 10. Ensuring Broader Participation in eHealth Implementation. — The 
Council shall create multi-sectoral groups, composed of both the private and public 
sectors to ensure broader stakeholder participation and for the furtherance of its 
objectives. 
Setting up of the sub-structures or mechanisms shall be in accordance with R.A. No. 
11223, otherwise known as the “Universal Health Care Act” and other related 
issuances. 
SECTION 11. Health Sector Enterprise Architecture. — The NeHS shall be operated 
within the health sector enterprise architecture that aligns and ensure that health and 
health-related data are made available and accessible anytime and anywhere to 
various stakeholders, business processes for health are streamlined and integrated, 
and services and applications are usable, safe, efficient and effective, following a 
healthcare business model provided under R.A. No. 11223, otherwise known as the 
“Universal Healthcare Act” and other related issuances.  
Rationalization for safety and cost effectiveness, scope and standards for design and 
use of technologies in the health sector shall also be defined in this architecture. 
All health care providers and health-related entities shall adopt a health enterprise 
architecture as defined and guided by the Council. 
SECTION 12. Standards Compliance. — All health care providers and health-related 
entities shall comply with the data standards to allow interoperability and health 


information exchange, and ensure data protection in accordance with R.A. No. 10173, 
otherwise known as the “Data Privacy Act” and other related laws and issuances. 
These standards shall include, inter alia, patient identifier, health care provider 
identifiers, and terminology and messaging standards, and shall be in accordance 
with the Philippine eGovernment interoperability and data security framework, and 
other relevant standards.  
SECTION 13. Rationalization of eHealth Services and Applications. — Design, 
development, and implementation of eHealth services and applications shall focus 
on the automation and interoperability of the various mandatory business processes 
and data services in the health sector as laid out in the Health Sector Enterprise 
Architecture which shall comply with regulatory requirements and may be subjected 
to health technology assessment.  
SECTION 14. Scope of eHealth Services and Applications. — eHealth services shall 
include the following areas: 
a) MandatoryeHealth Data Services: 
i) 
Master Person Index 
ii) 
Master Provider (Human Resources) Index 
iii) 
Master Facility Index 
iv) 
Terminology or Health Services Registry 
v) 
National Immunization Registry 
b) Compliant eHealth Services and Applications: 
i) 
Electronic Health Record/Electronic Medical Record 
ii) 
Health Information Exhange 
iii) 
Health Facility Operations and Management 
iv) 
Disease Registries 
v) 
TeleHealth/TeleMedicine 
vi) 
Human Resources in eHealth 
vii) 
Supply Chain Management 
SECTION 15. Regulations of TeleHealth Services and eHealth Related Devices. — 
The Council, through the DOH, shall establish and maintain a regulatory system foir 
telehealth services and eHealth-related devices. 
SECTION 16. Standards of Practice and Certification of Individuals and Entities 
Providing TeleHealth Services. — To complement the regulations of telehealth 
services and eHealth-related devices, the PRC and the DOH, in consultation with 
PhilHealth, UPM-National TeleHealth Center, DICT, academia, medical and 


specialty societies, non-government organizations, and the private and business 
sectors, shall set the standards of practice and implement a certification mechanism 
for health care providers and health-related entities providing telehealth services.  
SECTION 17. Human Resource in eHealth. — Health care professionals shall plan, 
design, build, operate, use, maintain and support eHealth services and applications. 
The DOH, PRC, CHED, DICT, and Technical Education and Skills Development 
Authority (TESDA), in consultation with medical and specialty societies, IT 
professional associations, and academia, shall establish the minimum competencies 
and impose the same on health, health-related and digital health professionals. This 
shall be part of the curriculum of  health and health-related courses.  
SECTION 18. Human Resource for eHealth Development Plan. — The DOH, PRC, 
CHED, and TESDA shall formulate the Human Resource for eHealth Development 
Plan which shall develop new curricula, integrate changes in existing curricula, create 
formal and nonformal training programs, and continuing professional development 
programs concerning the practice of eHealth. There should also be creation of 
personnel services item, plantilla positions, and other employment opportunities for 
human resource in government hospitals and institutions to manage and enable 
eHealth in healthcare related services.  
SECTION 19. ICT Infrastructure. — The DICT, in coordination with DOH, 
PhilHealth, and DOST, shall establish and maintain the necessary national ICT 
infrastructure to implement eHealth services and applications. 
SECTION 20. National eHealth Data Center. — The PhilHealth, in coordination with 
the DOH, DICT and DOST, shall establish and maintain the National eHealth Data 
Center, and implement an agile and sustainable data management and governance 
framework and system in support to R.A. No. 11223, otherwise known as the 
“Universal Health Care Act,” and in compliance with R.A. No. 10173, otherwise 
known as the “Data Privact Act of 2012” for data protection. 
SECTION 21. National eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan. — The Council shall 
spearhead the development and monitoring of strategic framework and plan to serve 
and guide the operations of the NeHS. 
SECTION 22. Financing the eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan. — Financing for 
the NeHS by DOH, PhilHealth and other partners, as defined by the Council, shall be 
made available to scale up eHealth implementation at the national level. 


SECTION 23. Private Sector Participation. — The DOH shall promulgate rules 
regarding the participation of the private sector, including public-private 
partnerships, and other suitable arrangements, in the provision of eHealth services, 
and ICT infrastructure. 
SECTION 24. Monitoring and Compliance. — The Council shall measure and 
monitor the performance and progress of the implementation of this Act. 
SECTION 25. Research and Development. — Consistent with R.A. No. 10532, 
otherwise known as the “Philippine National Health Research System Act of 2013,” 
and the mandate of the DOST, the DOST - Philippine Council for Health Research 
and Development (DOST-PCHRD), in consultation with DOH,  PRC, CHED, DICT, 
PhilHealth, UPM - National Telehealth Center, academia, regional health research 
consortia, medical and specialty societies, non-government organizations, and the 
private and business sectors shall ensure the development of new eHealth services 
and applications through: 
a) Formulation of eHealth research priority areas under the National Unified 
Health Research Agenda (NUHRA), and other research agendas; 
b) Funding and mobilizing resources for researches on eHealth, including 
creation of formal and non-formal capability building programs for the 
development of a pool of eHealth researchers and innovators, which are 
aligned with the research agenda; 
c) Establishment and strengthening of centers of excellence of eHealth policy 
studies, research and development; and 
d) Establishment and adherence of mechanisms that strengthen eHealth 
innovation research and strategy to the health technology assessment process 
as provided under R.A. No. 11223, otherwise known as the “Universal Health 
Care Act,” and that integrate explicit use of evidence into the policy and 
decision-making process and national eHealth standards, and support the 
growth of research consortia on eHealth; 
A separate unit within the PCHRD shall handle and manage eHealth related activities 
and programs. The human resource requirement of such unit shall be determined by 
PCHRD in consultation with the DOH, CSC and DBM.  
SECTION 26. Rules and Procedures for Administrative Violations and Complaints. 
— The Council shall promulgate rules and procedures relating to administrative 
violations and complaints, insofar as they relate to the establishment and operations 
of the NeHS. 


SECTION 27. Appropriations. — The amount necessary for the implementation of 
this Act shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act. 
SECTION 28. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within one hundred eighty 
days (180) from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of DOH, shall, after 
consultation with the Secretaries of DICT and DOST, the President and Chief 
Executive Office of PhilHealth, the Chancellor of UPM, the Chairman of the PRC, the 
Chairperson of CHED, the National Statistician of PSA, and representatives of 
medical and paramedical associations and societies, and other stakeholders, 
promulgate the necessary rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this 
Act.  
SECTION 29. Transitory Provisions. — The transformation of KMITS into a full-
fledged Bureau and the formulation of the internal organic structure and regional 
and local implementation structures, staffing pattern, operating system, and the 
revised budget of the DOH for health information technology shall be completed 
within six (6) months from the promulgation of the Implementing Rules and 
Regulations of this Act, during which time, The existing KMITS and regional and 
local implementation personnel shall continue to serve in holdover capacities until a 
full and permanent Bureau is constituted and functioning, and new appointments are 
issued.  
SECTION 30. Separability Clause. — If any parts are provision of this Act is held 
invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall 
remain in full force and effect.  
SECTION 31. Repealing Clause. — All general and special laws, decrees, executive 
orders, proclamations and administrative regulation, or parts thereof which are 
consistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended and modified accordingly. 
SECTION 32. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
Approved.