ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD IMPLEMENTATION: A PRISMA-BASED SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Based on the PRISMA 2020 manual, this systematic review critically assesses the research outputs released
between 2015 and 2025 regarding the integration of Electronic Health Records (EHR) within the Philippine
healthcare system. The findings in the study clearly demonstrate that the adoption of EHR has largely been
promoted via governance at the national level, especially through the Philippine Department of Health, in
partnership with the policy strategies embraced by PhilHealth regarding the compensation of healthcare services
dependent on standardized medical records. These support the overall principles of Universal Health Care
(UHC), emphasizing the importance of correct, timely, and complete medical data, and monitoring the
performance of the healthcare system. Notwithstanding these facilitative policy strategies, the adoption of EHR
in the Philippine healthcare system has had issues and challenges regarding the inconsistencies in the successful
implementation of these new healthcare technologies. The core reasons underlying the challenges associated
with the adoption of EHR in the Philippine healthcare system include the lack of infrastructure, governance, and
sectoral policy approaches necessary for sustaining the entire process of the successful implementation of EHR.
Critically, the systematic review described in this study brings out the overarching concern that the successful
adoption of EHR infrastructure cannot be guaranteed by technology or policy, emphasizing the need for the
required institutional capacity development, human capital, or change approaches. If not addressed, the potential
performance or utility of EHR may be compromised, especially regarding the efficiency of the healthcare
system.