eHealth updates from the Philippines

1. Country eHealth Updates
Philippines
Dr Alvin B. Marcelo
February 26, 2016

2. Disclosures
• Associate Professor of Surgery and Health Informatics, University of
the Philippines Manila
• Director, Technology Transfer and Business Development Office, UP
Manila
• Executive director, Asia eHealth Information Network
• Member, National eHealth Technical Working Group
• Chair, eHealth Risk Management Expert Group

3. Disclaimers
• This is my perspective on how the story of Philippine eHealth
unfolded.
• Based on policy documents and proceedings of meetings.
• Where basis is subjective, I will highlight.

4. February 2012
• WHO and ITU invite country representatives to Geneva
• Launched the National eHealth Strategy Toolkit
• Message: to get eHealth done right, health and ICT sector need to
work together

5. WHO-ITU eHealth Strategy Toolkit

6. August 2012
• Asia eHealth Information Network holds first general meeting in
Bangkok
• Regional launch of the WHO-ITU National eHealth Strategy Toolkit

7. July 2013
• DOH and DOST issues joint department memorandum on the
National eHealth Governance Structure and Technical Working Group
• Joint presentation of the Philippines eHealth Strategic Framework and
Plan Organizational structure is patterned after the Toolkit

8. WHO-ITU Toolkit PeHSFP

9. October 2013
• National eHealth Steering Committee meets for the first time.
• Key decisions:
• add UP Manila and Commission on Higher Education to Steering Committee
• set initial priorities: decrease maternal deaths, increase PhilHealth coverage,
complete health facility enhancements, use IT in all public health facilities
• approve the Philippine eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan (PeHSFP)

10. WHO-ITU and PeHSFP

11. November 7, 2013
• Typhoon Haiyan makes landfall in the Visayas region of the Philippines

12. January 29, 2014
• Second Steering Committee
Meeting
• Adopt IT Governance framework
(COBIT5) to guide the multi-
sector-led eHealth initiatives

13. April 2014
• 12 participants from the
Philippines undergo
certification on COBIT5
Foundation (with AeHIN, WHO
and NORAD support)

14. May 27, 2014
• eHealth Steering Committee approves the Philippine Health
Information Exchange as the key project for eHealth interoperability
• Directs TWG to start crafting the Data Sharing Agreement for the PHIE

15. July 2014
• Steering Committee directs TWG to comply with the Data Privacy Act
of 2012

16. OpenHIE
TS – terminology service
CR – client registry
SHR – shared health record
HMIS – health management information system
FR – facility registry
HWR – health worker registry

17. Current Updates
• Public issuance of Administrative Order on the Implementation of the
Philippine Health Information Exchange

18. Current Updates
• Public issuance of the Administrative Order for the Health Data
Privacy Guidelines

19. Standards Catalog v1

20. Standards Change Management Manual
v1.35

21. ehealth.doh.gov.ph

22. Lessons Learned
• eHealth is complex. No single sector can do it alone. It needs
stakeholders to collaborate under the leadership of the Ministry of
Health.
• IT governance frameworks like COBIT5 help in managing this
complexity. Without a framework, it is easy to get lost. With IT
governance, stakeholders can refer to a guide as they move along.
• Good governance is key to progress. Good governance can be as
simple as keeping meetings regular as scheduled and deciding
together as a group.
• Consensus-building may take longer but is more sustainable.
Stakeholder ownership of eHealth will ensure its adoption.

23. • Structured (limited) data for sharing – eases implied consent (can be
withdrawn) - Canada
• Does not work in other places
• HI Custodian (manager of databases) vs HI network provider (convey
the information to another facility)
• Prof Michio Kimura – SSMix-HD (also limited in data types and
collection) (We had Dr Kimura in a previous AeHIN Hour)

24. Next Country eHealth Update: Thailand