Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _______ 
Introduced by 
HON. CHRISTOPHERSON “COCO” M. YAP 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that, "The State shall xxx promote the 
adaptation of technology from all sources for the national benefit. It shall encourage the 
widest participation of private groups, local governments, and community-based 
organizations in the generation and utilization of science and technology." 
The health threat brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the government's 
movement and travel restrictions in its response led the healthcare providers and patients 
to adopt remote healthcare services. eHealth services, including telemedicine, provide a 
safe and convenient way to seek medical advice for preventive, curative, and palliative 
purposes. 
This measure provides for the promotion of eHealth services as a highly-reliable 
alternative health service system. Towards this end, an independent body known as the 
eHealth Policy and Coordination Council is created, under this proposed measure, to 
August 2, 2022
6:00 pm
3039


provide policies and guidelines for the eHealth industry which will ensure the 
streamlined delivery of eHealth services to reduce inequities and achieve the goals of the 
Universal Healthcare Program and better health outcomes. 
Moreover, the certainty provided by a clear-cut industry regulation will encourage 
investors to engage in eHealth services, making it cheaper and more accessible to the 
people while employing our health professionals without having to displace them to 
high-wage areas in the country. 
Thus, the approval of this measure is earnestly sought. 
CHRISTOPHERSON “COCO” M. YAP 
Representative, Second District of Southern Leyte 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _______ 
Introduced by 
REP. CHRISTOPHERSON “COCO” M. YAP 
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 the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
ARTICLE I 
1 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
2 
3 
SECTION 1.  Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "eHealth System and Services 
4 
Act." 
5 
6 
SEC. 2. 
Declaration of Policies. - It is the policy of the State to protect and promote 
7 
the right to health of all Filipinos and instill health consciousness among 
8 
them. Toward this end, the State shall institutionalize a system of 
9 
providing broad access to quality health information and services using 
10 
3039


information and communication technology (ICT), referred to as the 
11 
National eHealth System (NeHS), resulting in better health outcomes for 
12 
every Filipino, and further recognizing whole-of-society and whole-of-
13 
government approaches. 
14 
 
15 
The NeHS shall be integrated, comprehensive, interoperable, progressive, 
16 
secure, and sustainable based on best current and future practices and 
17 
shall facilitate inter-agency and inter-sectoral coordination at various 
18 
levels of governance covering both the public and private sectors. It shall 
19 
recognize eHealth as supplemental and complementary with other 
20 
healthcare delivery methods to the extent allowable by existing laws, 
21 
provide 
and 
support 
healthcare 
delivery, 
including 
diagnosis, 
22 
consultation, treatment, transfer of care of patient, exchange of health 
23 
data, and education, especially in medically unserved and underserved 
24 
geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs). 
25 
 
26 
SEC. 3.   
Objectives. - This Act shall provide a holistic framework that establishes 
27 
a NeHS, which shall: 
28 
 
29 
a) Set policies, standards, priorities, plans, programs, and projects 
30 
that promote and ensure streamlined and safely regulated delivery 
31 
of eHealth services to reduce inequalities, achieve universal health 
32 
care, and better health outcomes; and 
33 
 
34 
b) Clarify roles of agencies, institutions, and entities regarding their 
35 
performance and accountabilities in building national and local 
36 
eHealth capacity and measuring results. 
37 
 
38 
SEC. 4.   
Scope and Application. - This Act covers all existing health care providers 
39 
and other entities developing and using eHealth systems, services and 
40 
applications, and tools, whether public or private, including relevant 
41 
standard equipment in the field of health and ancillary services that use 
42 


ICT and are complementary to existing minimum modalities or standards 
43 
of health care and other means of access to information. 
44 
 
45 
SEC. 5.  
Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:  
46 
a) Compliant eHealth services and applications refer to the 
47 
requirements of a defined architecture of eHealth standards that 
48 
enable services and systems, allow for interoperability of health 
49 
services 
and 
information 
exchange 
across 
geographic, 
50 
organizational, network, and vendor boundaries, and ensure data 
51 
protection in accordance with Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10173, 
52 
otherwise known as the "Data Privacy Act" and other related laws 
53 
and issuances;  
54 
 
55 
b) eHealth or Electronic health refers to the use of cost-effective and 
56 
secure information and communications technology for health care 
57 
practice, also referred to as digital health; 
58 
 
59 
c) eHealth data services refer to key architectural data registries of the 
60 
health sector needed to enable and support large-scale health 
61 
information interoperability and exchange; 
62 
 
63 
d) eHealth System refers to the interplay of enabling and foundational 
64 
elements 
essential 
for 
a 
successful 
national 
eHealth 
65 
implementation, namely, (1) governance and accountability, (2) 
66 
standards and interoperability, (3) services and operations, (4) 
67 
telehealth, (5) human resources, (6) infrastructure, (7) strategy and 
68 
investment, (8) monitoring and compliance, and (9) research and 
69 
development; 
70 
 
71 
e) eHealth services and applications refer to the solutions, products, 
72 
and innovations with defined objectives to serve its intended clients 
73 
or users, such as health information systems, electronic medical 
74 


record systems, electronic health record systems, enterprise 
75 
resource planning systems, ePharmacy systems, laboratory system, 
76 
radiology system, electronic prescription system, human resource 
77 
information system, registry systems, mobile health, telehealth, 
78 
telemedicine, wearables, and biomedical and related devices with 
79 
ICT component; 
80 
 
81 
f) Electronic health record (EHR) refers to a computerized health 
82 
record used to capture, store, access, and share information of a 
83 
patient between and across health care providers and health-related 
84 
entities; 
85 
 
86 
g) Electronic medical record (EMR) refers to a computerized medical 
87 
record used to capture, store and share information of a patient to 
88 
health care providers in an institution or organization; 
89 
 
90 
h) Electronic prescription (ePrescription) refers to a system that 
91 
allows healthcare providers to write and send prescriptions in an 
92 
automated or electronic way to a pharmacy with the capability to 
93 
receive such;  
94 
 
95 
i) Geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) refer to 
96 
barangays specifically disadvantaged due to the presence of both 
97 
physical and socio-economic factors. For a barangay to be 
98 
classified as GIDA, both physical and socio-economic factors must 
99 
be present;  
100 
 
101 
1. Physical factors are characteristics that limit the delivery of 
102 
and/or access to basic health services to communities that 
103 
are difficult to reach due to distance, weather conditions, 
104 
and transportation difficulties;  
105 
 
106 


2. Socio-economic factors are social, cultural, and economic 
107 
characteristics of the community that limit access to and 
108 
utilization of health services;  
109 
 
110 
j) Health sector enterprise architecture refers to the blueprint on 
111 
which eHealth services and applications shall be developed, 
112 
implemented, and scaled up; and 
113 
 
114 
k) Information and communications technology refer to all 
115 
technologies for the communication of information, which include 
116 
data, application or information systems, internet, network, 
117 
connectivity, and telecommunications, among others. 
118 
 
119 
SEC. 6.  
Implementing Agency. - The Department of Health (DOH) shall be the 
120 
lead implementing agency to carry out the provisions of this Act. The 
121 
DOH shall strengthen and transform its existing Knowledge Management 
122 
and Information Technology Service (KMITS) into a full-fledged Bureau, 
123 
to be called as the National eHealth Information and Services Bureau 
124 
(NeHISB), 
which 
shall 
perform 
the 
overall 
management 
and 
125 
administration of this Act. The additional plantilla position to be created 
126 
for this purpose shall be submitted to the Department of Budget and 
127 
Management (DBM) for evaluation and approval. 
128 
 
129 
The Bureau shall also serve as a secretariat of the eHealth Policy and 
130 
Coordination Council as provided in Sec. 8 hereof.  
131 
 
132 
SEC. 7.  
Regional and Local Implementation Structures and Staffing Pattern. - To 
133 
assist in the implementation of this Act, the regional organizational 
134 
structures shall be lodged under the Center for Health Development of the 
135 
DOH, while local organizational structures shall be subject to the 
136 
discretion of the local government units (LGUs) in relation to Section 76 
137 
of R.A. No. 7160 or the "Local Government Code of 1991." 
138 


 
139 
ARTICLE II 
140 
GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY 
141 
 
142 
SEC. 8.  
Creation of the eHealth Policy and Coordination Council. - There shall be 
143 
created an independent body to be known as the eHealth Policy and 
144 
Coordination Council, hereby referred to as the Council, to provide and 
145 
promote relevant policies and guidelines for the effective coordination and 
146 
implementation of this Act. The Council shall be composed of the 
147 
following key officials: 
148 
 
149 
a) Secretary, DOH - Chairperson 
150 
b) Secretary, DICT - Co-Chairperson 
151 
c) President & Chief Executive Officer, PhilHealth - Co-Chairperson 
152 
d) Secretary, DOST; 
153 
e) Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); 
154 
f) Secretary, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG); 
155 
g) Secretary, DBM; 
156 
h) Chancellor, University of the Philippines - Manila (UPM); 
157 
i) Chairman, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC); 
158 
j) Chairperson, Commission on Higher Education (CHED); 
159 
k) Chairperson, National Privacy Commission (NPC);  
160 
l) National Statistician, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA); 
161 
m) Two (2) representatives from professional medical or health societies;  
162 
n) One (1) representative from patients' group; and 
163 
o) One (1) representative from the ICT industry associations. 
164 
 
165 
The heads of government agencies may be represented by a designated 
166 
official whose rank shall not be lower than Assistant Secretary or its 
167 
equivalent. Members representing the private sector shall be appointed by 
168 
the President of the Philippines not later than thirty (30) days after the 
169 
effectivity of this Act and shall serve for a term of three (3) years, 
170 


renewable upon recommendation of the Council for a maximum of two 
171 
(2) consecutive terms. 
172 
 
173 
The government agency-members of the Council shall have the authority 
174 
to act upon and decide on all urgent matters pending the formation of the 
175 
Council and the appointment of members from the private sector by the 
176 
President of the Philippines.  
177 
 
178 
SEC. 9.    
Powers and Duties of the Council. - The Council shall exercise the 
179 
following powers and functions: 
180 
 
181 
a) Define and promote over-all eHealth policies, standards and 
182 
regulations at all levels of health care system, public and private; 
183 
 
184 
b) Ensure integration and coordination of national and local eHealth 
185 
strategies and initiatives; and 
186 
 
187 
c) Submit yearly assessments and accomplishment reports to the Senate 
188 
Committee on Health and Demography and the House of 
189 
Representatives Committee on Health for performance monitoring 
190 
and evaluation. 
191 
 
192 
SEC. 10.  
Ensuring Broader Participation in eHealth Implementation. - The Council 
193 
shall create multi-sectoral groups, composed of both the private and 
194 
public sectors to ensure broader stakeholder participation and for the 
195 
furtherance of its objectives.  
196 
 
197 
Setting up of the sub-structures or mechanisms shall be in accordance with 
198 
R.A. No. 11223, otherwise known as the "Universal Health Care Act," 
199 
and other related issuances.  
 
200 


ARTICLE III 
201 
STANDARDS AND INTEROPERABILITY 
202 
 
203 
SEC. 11.  
Health Sector Enterprise Architecture. - The NeHS shall be operated 
204 
within the health sector enterprise architecture that aligns and ensure that 
205 
health and health-related data are made available, and accessible anytime 
206 
and anywhere to various stakeholders, business processes for health are 
207 
streamlined and integrated, and services and applications are usable, safe, 
208 
efficient and effective, following the health care business model provided 
209 
under R.A. No. 11223, otherwise known as the "Universal Health Care 
210 
Act" and other related issuances. 
211 
 
212 
Rationalization for safety and cost effectiveness, scope, and standards for 
213 
design and use of technologies in the health sector shall also be defined in 
214 
this architecture.  
215 
 
216 
All health care providers and health-related entities shall adopt a health 
217 
enterprise architecture as defined and guided by the Council. 
218 
 
219 
SEC. 12.  
Standards Compliance. - All health care providers and health-related 
220 
entities shall comply with the data standards to allow interoperability and 
221 
health information exchange, and ensure data protection in accordance 
222 
with R.A. No. 10173, otherwise known as the "Data Privacy Act" and 
223 
other related laws and issuances.  
224 
 
225 
These standards shall include, inter alia, patient identifiers, health care 
226 
provider identifiers, and terminology and messaging standards and shall 
227 
be in accordance with the Philippine eGovernment interoperability and 
228 
data security framework and other relevant standards. 
229 
 
 
 


ARTICLE IV 
230 
SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS 
231 
 
232 
SEC. 13.  
Rationalization of eHealth Services and Applications. - Design, 
233 
development, and implementation of eHealth services and applications 
234 
shall focus on the automation and interoperability of the various 
235 
mandatory business processes and data services in the health sector as laid 
236 
out in the Health Sector Enterprise Architecture, which shall comply with 
237 
regulatory requirements and may be subjected to health technology 
238 
assessment.  
239 
 
240 
SEC. 14.  
Scope of eHealth Services and Applications. - eHealth services shall 
241 
include the following areas: 
242 
 
243 
a) Mandatory eHealth Data Services: 
244 
1. Master Person Index 
245 
2. Master Provider (Human Resources) Index 
246 
3. Master Facility Index 
247 
4. Terminology or Health Services Registry 
248 
5. National Immunization Registry 
249 
 
250 
b) Compliant eHealth Services and Applications: 
251 
1. Electronic Health Record/Electronic Medical Record 
252 
2. Health Information Exchange 
253 
3. Health Facility Operations and Management 
254 
4. Disease Registries 
255 
5. TeleHealth/TeleMedicine 
256 
6. Human Resources in eHealth 
257 
7. Supply Chain Management 
258 
 
 


Article V 
259 
TELEHEALTH 
260 
 
261 
SEC. 15.  
Regulations of TeleHealth Services and eHealth Related Devices. - The 
262 
Council, through the DOH, shall establish and maintain a regulatory 
263 
system for telehealth services and eHealth-related devices.   
264 
 
265 
SEC. 16.  
Standards of Practice and Certification of Individuals and Entities 
266 
Providing TeleHealth Services. - To complement the regulations of 
267 
telehealth services and eHealth-related devices, the PRC and the DOH, in 
268 
consultation with PhilHealth, UPM-National TeleHealth Center, DICT, 
269 
academia, medical and specialty societies, non-government organizations, 
270 
and the private and business sectors, shall set the standards of practice and 
271 
implement a certification mechanism for health care providers and health-
272 
related entities providing telehealth services. 
273 
 
274 
ARTICLE VI 
275 
HUMAN RESOURCES 
276 
 
277 
SEC. 17.    
Human Resource in eHealth. - Health care professionals shall plan, 
278 
design, build, operate, use, maintain and support eHealth services and 
279 
applications.  
280 
 
281 
The DOH, PRC, CHED, DICT, and Technical Education and Skills 
282 
Development Authority (TESDA), in consultation with medical and 
283 
specialty societies, IT professional associations, and academia, shall 
284 
establish the minimum competencies and impose the same on health, 
285 
health-related, and digital health professionals. This shall be part of the 
286 
curriculum of health and health-related courses.  
287 
 
288 
SEC. 18.    
Human Resource for eHealth Development Plan. - The DOH, PRC, 
289 
CHED, and TESDA shall formulate the Human Resource for eHealth 
290 


Development Plan, which shall develop new curricula, integrate changes 
291 
in existing curricula, create formal and non-formal training programs, and 
292 
continuing professional development programs concerning the practice of 
293 
eHealth. There shall also be creation of personnel services items, plantilla 
294 
positions, and other employment opportunities for human resources in 
295 
government hospitals and institutions to manage and enable eHealth in 
296 
healthcare and related services. 
297 
 
298 
ARTICLE VII 
299 
INFRASTRUCTURE 
300 
 
301 
SEC. 19.  
 ICT Infrastructure. - The DICT, in coordination with DOH, PhilHealth, 
302 
and DOST, shall establish and maintain the necessary national ICT 
303 
infrastructure to implement eHealth services and applications.  
304 
 
305 
SEC. 20.   
National eHealth Data Center. - The PhilHealth, in coordination with the 
306 
DOH, DICT, and DOST, shall establish and maintain the National 
307 
eHealth Data Center and implement an agile and sustainable data 
308 
management and governance framework and system in support of R.A. 
309 
No. 11223, otherwise known as the "Universal Health Care Act," and in 
310 
compliance with R.A. No. 10173, otherwise known as the "Data Privacy 
311 
Act of 2012" for data protection.  
312 
 
313 
ARTICLE VIII 
314 
STRATEGY AND INVESTMENT 
315 
 
316 
SEC. 21.  
National eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan. - The Council shall 
317 
spearhead the development and monitoring of strategic framework and 
318 
plan to serve and guide the operations of the NeHS.  
319 
 
320 
SEC. 22.  
Financing the eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan. - Financing for the 
321 
NeHS by DOH, PhilHealth, and other partners, as defined by the Council, 
322 


shall be made available to scale up eHealth implementation at the national 
323 
level. 
324 
 
325 
SEC. 23.   
Private Sector Participation. - The DOH shall promulgate rules regarding 
326 
the participation of the private sector, including public-private 
327 
partnerships, and other suitable arrangements, in the provision of eHealth 
328 
services, applications, and ICT infrastructure. 
329 
 
330 
ARTICLE IX 
331 
MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE 
332 
 
333 
SEC. 24.  
Monitoring and Compliance. - The Council shall measure and monitor 
334 
the performance and progress of the implementation of this Act.  
335 
 
336 
ARTICLE X 
337 
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
338 
 
339 
SEC. 25.   
Research and Development. - Consistent with R.A. No. 10532, otherwise 
340 
known as the "Philippine National Health Research System Act of 2013," 
341 
and the mandate of the DOST,  the DOST - Philippine Council for Health 
342 
Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD), in consultation with DOH, 
343 
PRC, CHED, DICT, PhilHealth, UPM - National TeleHealth Center, 
344 
academia, regional health research consortia, medical and specialty 
345 
societies, non-government organizations, and the private and business 
346 
sectors, shall ensure the development of new eHealth services and 
347 
applications through: 
348 
 
349 
a) Formulation of eHealth research priority areas under the National 
350 
Unified Health Research Agenda (NUHRA) and other research 
351 
agendas;  
352 
 
353 
b) Funding and mobilizing resources for research on eHealth, including 
354 


the creation of formal and non-formal capability-building programs 
355 
for the development of a pool of eHealth researchers and innovators, 
356 
which are aligned with the research agenda; 
357 
 
358 
c) Establishment and strengthening of centers of excellence for eHealth 
359 
policy studies, research, and development; and  
360 
 
361 
d) Establishment and adherence of mechanisms that strengthen eHealth 
362 
innovation research and strategy to the health technology assessment 
363 
process as provided under R.A. No. 11223, otherwise known as the 
364 
"Universal Health Care Act," and that integrate explicit use of 
365 
evidence into the policy and decision-making process and national 
366 
eHealth standards, and support the growth of research consortia on 
367 
eHealth; 
368 
 
369 
A separate unit within the PCHRD shall handle and manage eHealth-
370 
related activities and programs. The human resource requirement of such 
371 
a unit shall be determined by PCHRD in consultation with the DOH, 
372 
CSC, and DBM. 
373 
 
374 
ARTICLE XI 
375 
ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES 
376 
 
377 
SEC. 26.   
Rules and Procedures for Administrative Violations and Complaints. - 
378 
The Council shall promulgate rules and procedures relating to 
379 
administrative violations and complaints insofar as they relate to the 
380 
establishment and operations of the NeHS.  
381 
 
382 
ARTICLE XII 
383 
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
384 
 
385 
SEC. 27.  
Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the implementation of this 
386 
Act shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act. 
387 


 
388 
SEC. 28. 
Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within one hundred eighty days 
389 
(180) days from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of DOH shall, 
390 
after consultation with the Secretaries of DICT and DOST, the President 
391 
and Chief Executive Office of PhilHealth, the Chancellor of UPM, the 
392 
Chairman of the PRC, the Chairperson of CHED, the National Statistician 
393 
of PSA, and representatives of medical and paramedical associations and 
394 
societies, and other stakeholders, promulgate the necessary rules and 
395 
regulations implementing the provisions of this Act.  
396 
 
397 
SEC. 29.   
Transitory Provisions. - The transformation of KMITS into a full-fledged 
398 
Bureau and the formulation of the internal organic structure and regional 
399 
and local implementation structures, staffing pattern, operating system, 
400 
and the revised budget of the DOH for health information technology 
401 
shall be completed within six (6) months from the promulgation of the 
402 
Implementing Rules and Regulations of this Act, during which time, the 
403 
existing KMITS and regional and local implementation personnel shall 
404 
continue to serve in holdover capacities until a full and permanent Bureau 
405 
is constituted and functioning and new appointments are issued. 
406 
 
407 
SEC. 30.  
Separability Clause. - If any part or provision of this Act is held invalid or 
408 
unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall 
409 
remain in full force and effect. 
410 
 
411 
SEC. 31.  
Repealing Clause. - All general and special laws, decrees, executive orders, 
412 
proclamations, and administrative regulations, or parts thereof which are 
413 
inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended, and modified 
414 
accordingly. 
415 
 
416 
SEC. 32.  
Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication 
417 
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
418 
 
419 


Approved, 
420