MANILA – A House of Representatives panel approved on Wednesday the funding provisions of a bill to construct the country’s electronic health or E-health system through the use of information and communications technology.
The House committee on appropriations adopted the substitute bill to House Bills 61, 171, 665, and 4899, also known as the proposed “National E-health System Act”, in an online meeting.
The bill aims to establish a system of giving broad access to high-quality health information and services through the use of information and communication technologies.
House Committee on Health chairperson and Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan stated that if the bill is passed, the National E-health System will incorporate all existing healthcare providers as well as other entities generating and utilizing e-health systems, services, applications, and tools.
“It bears stressing that the investment on building access to health services is a crucial requirement for the realization and success of the Universal Health Care for all Filipinos. Hence, investing in E-health is imperative to ensure equitable access to health care services, most especially those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and particularly for the poor, disadvantaged, and vulnerable,” Tan said.
Tan also emphasized the necessity of having great access to real-time information for making evidence-based decisions.
The bill requires the development and implementation of a health sector enterprise architecture to provide guidance for aligning and ensuring that data are easily available and accessible, business processes are harmonized and integrated, and services and applications are usable, safe, efficient, and effective.
The design, development, and implementation of E-health services and applications must prioritize automation and interoperability of the different mandatory E-health business processes and data services outlined in the health sector enterprise architecture.
