THE leadership of the House of Representatives has included the modernization of the country’s health-care system in its priorities.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said the unnumbered substitute measure establishing the Philippine Electronic Health (eHealth) System will make delivery of Philippine health-care services faster, more accessible and convenient to all Filipinos.
“Decades of neglect, brain drain and lack of investments in health infrastructure has caused the decline of healthcare in the country,” Cayetano said. “Government’s investment in eHealth facilities, and services, can boost the delivery of medical and health programs to the poor, and ensure the success of the Universal Health Care law.”
The House Committee on Health has already endorsed the bill for plenary approval.
The measure aims to institutionalize a system of providing wide access to quality health information, and services, using information and communications technology (ICT), referred to as the National eHealth System (NeHS), which is expected to provide better health outcomes to every Filipino.
The bill provides that the NeHS shall set policies, programs, and projects that promote and ensure streamlined and safely regulated delivery of eHealth services to reduce inequalities, achieve universal health care and better health outcomes. The NeHS shall also enable Filipinos to have better management and control of their health through suitable access to their own health information.
It also stipulates the establishment of the eHealth Policy and Coordination Council (eHPCC) that will provide, and promote relevant policies and guidelines for the effective coordination, and implementation, of the bill.
The proposed bill mandates the health
secretary as the eHPCC’s chairman, while the secretary of Department of
Information and Communications Technology, and the president and chief
executive officer of PhilHealth shall be
cochairmen.
The DOH shall strengthen and transform its Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service into a full-fledged bureau, to be named as the National eHealth Information and Services Bureau, which shall perform the overall management and administration of the measure.