In the Philippines, the adoption of FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) for healthcare data exchange is still in its early stages. Currently, there is limited use of various FHIR versions with some uncertainty around the use of the R4 version. Respondents to the survey anticipate significant growth in the adoption of FHIR in the coming years. This growth is expected to be supported by regulations mandating the use of FHIR and ongoing development efforts.

Rules and Support

• Health Data Exchange Rules
  • The Philippines has regulations mandating the use of standards for electronic health data exchange.
  • FHIR is specifically mandated by these regulations.
• Deadlines and Compliance
  • There is a deadline for compliance included in the regulation, though no fines are imposed for non-compliance before this deadline.
• Funding
  • Currently, there are no government funds available to stimulate the adoption of FHIR.
• Regulation Details
  • DOH and PhilHealth Joint Administrative Order # 2021-0002
  • DOH and PhilHealth Joint Administrative Order # 2021-0001

National Setup

• Standards Organization
  • The Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) are responsible for health data standards.
• Implementation Guides
  • A base/core FHIR implementation guide is under development. You can find more information here.
• Terminology Services
  • There is no national FHIR terminology server yet, but planning is underway.

Active Use Cases

• Local implementations are still emerging, with significant planning and capacity-building phases underway.
• Key projects include the Philippines National Health Data Repository Framework (NHDR) FHIR Implementation.

Who's Using FHIR

• Government HIS/EMRs are noted as active organizations beginning to explore or implement FHIR.
• The main reasons for adoption include regulation mandates and the potential for improved healthcare data interoperability.

Success Stories and Challenges

• Benefits
  • Improved collaboration among stakeholders to discuss interoperability standards.
• Challenges
  • High investment costs, lack of FHIR knowledge, and changes in political direction are major barriers.
• Future Plans
  • Continued development of national FHIR data models and standards for more specific use cases. Launch of pilot projects with selected healthcare stakeholders is anticipated.

Future Plans

• There has been quite the progress in FHIR adoption as expected, with further expansion across the healthcare ecosystem anticipated.
• Within the next three years, stakeholders expect to reap significant benefits from FHIR adoption, including cost savings and enhanced care coordination.

Contributors

• Permission to use names was granted by one respondent, Philip Sales from Medcheck.

The above summary is based on the answers to the State of FHIR Survey 2025, organized by Firely and HL7 International.