PH Health Ref

Philippine Health System Reference

Developer Reference for Building Health Systems Aligned with UHC

70 documents from DOH, PhilHealth, WHO, and Philippine law. Structured data, FHIR profiles, case rates, and compliance standards for hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies, and barangay health units.

70 Documents21 Categories~2M Words22 Use Cases6,500+ Structured Records
~90% RA 11223 (UHC Act) coverageFHIR R4 + ICD-10 + Global Standards

What Are You Building?

Find the right DOH standards for your project. Each use case links directly to the relevant manuals.

Staffing & Workforce

Organizational structure and staffing standards for government hospitals across all levels, including the latest Phase II revised standards and nursing service administration.

UHC Act Sec 28 mandates adequate health human resources; these manuals define the staffing ratios and organizational structures required.

Compliance & Licensing

Hospital classification, licensing assessment tools, and regulatory compliance requirements for operating government hospitals.

UHC Act Sec 22 requires health facility standards and licensing; these orders define classification and assessment criteria.

Emergency Department

Standards and guidelines for managing hospital emergency departments, including patient safety protocols.

UHC Act Sec 9 guarantees emergency care access; these manuals set the operational standards for emergency departments.

Billing & Finance

Patient care financing, hospital finance standards, per capita budgeting, patient eligibility determination, and administrative finance operations.

UHC Act Sec 10-11 address patient financing and PhilHealth coverage; these manuals operationalize hospital-level financial management.

Pharmacy & Drug Management

Pharmacy operations, drug handling, and property/supply management for hospitals.

UHC Act Sec 35 covers pharmaceutical regulation; these manuals guide hospital pharmacy operations and supply chain management.

Laboratory & Blood Bank

Laboratory specimen handling, biosafety/biosecurity standards, and national voluntary blood services program manuals.

UHC Act Sec 22 requires quality diagnostic services; these manuals set laboratory and blood bank operational standards.

Infection Prevention & Control

IPC policies, health facility infection control, and healthcare waste management as it relates to infection prevention.

UHC Act Sec 22 mandates safe health facilities; IPC is a core requirement for hospital licensing and accreditation.

Facility Planning & Design

Hospital planning and design guidelines for Level 2 and Level 3 facilities, facility development planning, and green/climate-resilient facility standards.

UHC Act Sec 25-26 address health facility development and planning; these manuals provide the technical design and sustainability standards.

Health Information & Medical Records

Health information management systems, medical records standards, and medical certificate of cause of death procedures.

UHC Act Sec 36 covers health information systems; these manuals define hospital-level health data management practices.

WASH & Environmental Health

Water, sanitation, and hygiene standards for health facilities including safety plans, WASHFIT tools, and the national WASH roadmap.

UHC Act Sec 25 requires safe facility environments; WASH compliance is essential for licensing and patient safety.

Nutrition & Dietary Services

Hospital nutrition and dietetics service management standards and procedures.

UHC Act supports comprehensive hospital services; nutrition services are a required component of hospital care delivery.

Quality Improvement & Patient Safety

Continuous quality improvement programs, patient safety policies, and service delivery design for hospitals.

UHC Act Sec 22-23 mandate quality standards and continuous improvement; these orders establish the CQI and patient safety frameworks.

Hospital Operations & Administration

Comprehensive procedures manuals, integrated hospital operations and management program, and PHU operations.

UHC Act Sec 18-19 address service delivery networks; these manuals define operational procedures for government hospital management.

Waste Management & Audit

Healthcare waste management practices and audit guidelines for health facilities.

UHC Act Sec 25 requires safe waste handling in health facilities; audit tools ensure ongoing compliance.

PhilHealth Accreditation

PhilHealth accreditation process, documentary requirements, and performance commitments for health facilities joining the National Health Insurance Program.

UHC Act Sec 22 mandates all health facilities be PhilHealth-accredited; PEACHeS defines the process.

PhilHealth Benefits & Case Rates

PhilHealth benefit packages, medical and procedure case rates for hospital billing integration.

UHC Act Sec 10-12 defines PhilHealth benefit structure; case rates are the billing foundation.

Primary Care Facility Licensing

Licensing standards for primary care facilities (RHUs, UHCs, BHS) outside hospital settings.

UHC Act Sec 20-21 mandates primary care as foundation of UHC; all PCFs must be DOH-licensed.

Health Workforce Planning

National health human resource master plan — workforce production, retention, and deployment strategies.

UHC Act Sec 28 requires adequate HRH; the master plan sets 20-year workforce targets.

National Formulary & Essential Medicines

Philippine National Formulary — the essential medicines list that defines what drugs should be available.

UHC Act Sec 35 mandates drug price transparency; PNF-EML defines the essential medicines baseline.

Legal Foundation (Republic Acts)

The actual laws that mandate the health system. UHC Act, Mental Health Act, Data Privacy Act. Every system must comply with these.

  • ra11223-uhc-act— Full text of the Universal Health Care Act — the foundation for everything
  • ra11223-uhc-irr— Implementing Rules and Regulations — the detailed operational rules
  • ra11036-mental-health— Mental Health Act — mandates mental health services in health facilities
  • +2 more

RA 11223 IS the UHC Act. The other RAs create complementary mandates for mental health services and patient data protection.

Disease Surveillance & Reporting

PIDSR system, mandatory disease reporting. Required for all health facilities that see patients.

UHC Act Sec 17 covers population-based health services; RA 11332 mandates disease notification from all facilities.

Health IT & Interoperability (NHDR/FHIR)

NHDR framework, PHCDI FHIR profiles, PhilHealth claims data model. THE reference for building interoperable health systems in the Philippines.

  • phcdi-fhir-guide— PHCDI FHIR Implementation Guide — all PH-specific profiles, extensions, value sets for NHDR interop
  • nhdr-framework— NHDR Framework document — architecture, building blocks, data submission requirements
  • philhealth-claimform-guidelines— Claims Form CF1-CF4 guidelines — the data model for PhilHealth billing
  • +1 more

UHC Act Sec 36 mandates electronic health records and interoperable systems. NHDR is the national data repository all facilities must submit to.

Global Standards (WHO/ICD-10)

International standards that complement Philippine-specific docs. ICD-10 coding, surgical safety, digital health strategy, referral systems.

Philippine health systems use ICD-10 for diagnosis coding, WHO surgical safety standards, and align with WHO digital health strategy.

Browse by Category

13 categories covering hospital operations, clinical services, policies, and infrastructure.

Admin Finance

9

Administrative operations, finance, property, supply, procedures, health information, PCF, PHU

Nursing

1

Nursing service administration and standards

Pharmacy

1

Pharmacy management and drug handling

Nutrition

1

Nutrition and dietetics services

Staffing

3

Organizational structure, staffing standards by hospital level and bed capacity

Facilities

4

Hospital planning, design, green/safe facilities, climate resilience

Waste

2

Healthcare waste management and auditing

Infection Control

1

Infection prevention and control policies

Wash

6

Water, sanitation, hygiene — safety plans, WASHFIT, roadmap

Laboratory

5

Lab biosafety, specimen transport, blood services (NVBSP)

Emergency

1

Emergency department management standards

Policies

13

Administrative orders, department circulars, licensing, patient safety, CQI, IHOMP

Planning

1

Long-term health facility development planning

Philhealth

5

PhilHealth accreditation, benefit packages, case rates, and billing

Primary Care

2

Primary care facility licensing and standards

Workforce Planning

1

Health human resource master plan and workforce development

Formulary

1

Philippine National Formulary and essential medicines list

Laws

5

Republic Acts — UHC Act, Mental Health Act, Data Privacy Act

Surveillance

3

Disease surveillance, PIDSR, mandatory reporting

Health It

4

Health IT standards, NHDR, FHIR, PHCDI, claims forms, interoperability

Global Standards

6

WHO and international standards — ICD-10, surgical safety, digital health, referral systems, lab quality

Revision Chains

Some standards have been updated over time. Always use the latest version.

Staffing Standards

Manual 10(2013)superseded
Manual 10a(2022)current
Manual 10b(2023)current

Procedures Manual

18.1 (Part 1)(1994)superseded
18.2 (Part 2)(1994)superseded
18 (3rd Ed)(current)current