Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in the Philippines

Electronic Health Records

in the Philippines An overview of EHR/EMR software in the

country

To clarify first…

Is it EHR or EMR? ?

EHR = Electronic Health Record

A digital medical record that can be accessed, managed, & edited by multiple healthcare providers due to conformity to a standard

EMR = Electronic Medical Record

A digital medical record of a patient’s info within a particular healthcare provider’s practice

Roughly speaking…

- EHRs do everything EMRs do, but are used by more than one practice/org.

- EHRs can collect more data about a patient

- EMRs are less focused on data-sharing between practices

*However, in the Philippines, it is common to hear EHR and EMR used as interchangeable terms.

EHR/EMR usage & data is still scarce in the Philippines.

But things are changing.

Frost & Sullivan report: the Asia-Pacific EHR/EMR market will continue to grow to 2018

$$$x2

The same market will double its revenue from $1.2B (2012) to $2.2B (2018).

This upward trend in EHR/EMR usage is still only

the beginning.

!There are still

hurdles.

Poor ICT (info. & communications technology) infrastructure

• Philippines is 103rd of 166 countries in ICT access + usage (UN Int’l Telecomm. Union)

• As of 2010, only 13 out of 100 Philippine households had computer access (vs. 65/100 for Malaysia)

Implementation + maintenance costs

• Need for investment in new training and maintenance personnel

• Philippine ICT services are among the priciest in the region

Privacy concerns

• Fears of hacking / identity theft

• Concerns over implementation of the Data Privacy Act

Cultural resistance

• Temporary loss of efficiency after adoption of new systems

• Resistance to change

There are also benefits.

Higher-quality healthcare

Improved medical data

access

Greater efficiency for

practices/clinics (in the long run)

Opportunities for big data analysis & national health

reporting

Improved cooperation

between practices through

better data-sharing

In light of this, EHRs are sprouting up.

More hospitals are now implementing EHRs/EMRs.

The state has also taken some steps to push EHR usage.

iClinicSys

iHOMIS

International and local parties have introduced new solutions as well.

FREE FEATHERS EHR

And it’s still really just the start...

Want to learn moreabout the future of EHRs?

???

Take the EHR journey with us at

SeriousMD.com