Electronic medical records built for Philippine hospitals — PhilHealth EClaims, DOH compliance, and HMO billing in one system.

We replace. We build. We optimize.

Every line of code we write is yours at cutover. No license. No annual increase. No lock-in.

What does a Philippine hospital EMR need that generic EMR software doesn't provide?

PhilHealth EClaims integration, HMO pre-authorization workflows, BIR e-invoicing for hospital receipts, and a tamper-evident audit trail — none of these are standard in global EMR products.

Philippine hospital billing runs across four distinct payers: PhilHealth, HMOs, self-pay patients, and corporate accounts. Each has a different claim format, authorization process, and payment cycle. Global EMR vendors build to US payer formats — HCFA 1500, UB-04 — and bolt Philippine payers on. We build to PhilHealth EClaims, the major HMO portals, and BIR requirements from the data model up.

Can the system handle inpatient and outpatient workflows in the same record?

Yes. Inpatient admissions, ward rounds, nursing notes, and discharge summaries share the same chart as outpatient visits and emergency consults.

A patient's clinical record is continuous across care settings. An inpatient admission links to prior outpatient history. Ward-based nursing notes, physician orders, lab results, and radiology reports all appear on the same chart. Discharge summaries auto-populate from the admission record. The billing module generates the PhilHealth or HMO claim from the same clinical data — no duplicate entry.

How does PhilHealth EClaims integration work?

The system generates the PhilHealth EClaims XML file from the admission record, submits it to the PHIC portal, and tracks claim status — no manual data entry in the PHIC system.

PhilHealth EClaims requires a structured XML submission containing diagnosis codes (ICD-10-CM), procedure codes, attending physician details, length of stay, and benefit type. We build the claim generation from the clinical record — the coder reviews and approves, the system submits. KONSULTA package claims, maternity package claims, and inpatient claims each have distinct submission requirements; all are covered in the standard build.

Which HMOs does the system support?

Medicard, Maxicare, Intellicare, PhilCare, Intellicare Philippines, and Insular Health Care — the system formats LOA verification requests and claim submissions to each HMO's specification.

Each major HMO in the Philippines has a different Letter of Authority (LOA) format, verification portal, and claim submission schedule. We build the HMO workflow to each payer's specific requirements during scoping. LOA requests are submitted from the admissions module; approval status is tracked in real-time where the HMO portal allows. Claim submission generates in the format each HMO requires.

Does the system cover pharmacy dispensing and medication order management?

Yes. Physician orders flow from the ward chart to the pharmacy queue, dispensing is confirmed in the system, and medication administration records are updated by nursing.

The medication order lifecycle — order entry, pharmacist verification, dispensing confirmation, and medication administration record (MAR) — is a single workflow in the system. Drug interaction checking against the Philippine National Formulary drug list is configurable. Controlled substance dispensing requires dual confirmation. Pharmacy inventory is decremented at dispensing and generates a reorder alert when stock falls below par.

How does the system handle laboratory and radiology orders and results?

Physician orders for labs and radiology are entered in the chart, routed to the department, and results are posted back to the chart directly — no paper result slip re-entry.

The system supports an HL7 v2 interface to laboratory information systems and radiology PACS where those systems exist. For facilities without a separate LIS or PACS, we build result entry directly in the EMR. Critical value alerts — when a lab result crosses a configurable threshold — generate a notification to the ordering physician. Results are available in the patient chart as soon as the department posts them.

What does BIR compliance for hospital receipts look like?

Hospital official receipts are generated through a BIR-accredited billing system. EIS e-invoice data is transmitted to the BIR portal within the required window for each transaction.

Hospitals are VAT-registered entities and must issue BIR-compliant official receipts for all patient charges. Under RR 11-2025, structured e-invoice data must be transmitted to the BIR Electronic Invoicing System. We build the billing module with CAS accreditation documentation, OR-series management, daily Z-reading, and EIS transmission as standard — not as a separate billing system project. A top-ranked Philippine private hospital runs this in production today.

How is the tamper-evident audit trail implemented?

Every chart entry, modification, and deletion is hashed with SHA-256 and chained to the previous record — making retroactive alteration detectable.

A SHA-256 hash chain on clinical records means any change to a prior entry breaks the chain — the system flags the tampered record and identifies when the change occurred. This meets the tamper-evidence standard that DOH facility accreditation reviewers and medico-legal cases require. Audit log access is role-restricted; read-only access for compliance officers is configurable without accessing clinical content.

How does the system handle patient consent and data privacy under RA 10173?

Informed consent is collected digitally at registration with a timestamped log. Data access is role-restricted, and the system maintains a complete access log per patient record.

The Data Privacy Act (RA 10173) requires that patient records be accessed only by authorized personnel for legitimate purposes. The system enforces role-based access — nurses see nursing-relevant data, billing staff see billing data, physicians see the full clinical record. Every access event — view, print, download — is logged with the user, timestamp, and access reason. Access logs are exportable for NPC compliance reporting.

Can the system support multiple departments — ICU, OB, pediatrics, ER — with department-specific workflows?

Yes. Each department runs its own workflow configuration — order sets, documentation templates, and nursing protocols — within a shared patient record.

Department-specific workflows are configured at go-live: ICU has ventilator weaning protocols and line care checklists; OB has partograph charting and delivery records; ER has triage scoring and rapid-assessment templates; pediatrics has growth chart integration. These workflows share the core patient record but present the documentation interface appropriate to each clinical context.

What is the implementation timeline for a Philippine hospital?

A scoped inpatient-plus-outpatient system goes live in 2–3 weeks from contract. Larger integrations — LIS, PACS, legacy HIS — extend the timeline and are scoped separately.

Our reference implementation at a 250-bed private hospital in Cebu went live in 2.5 weeks covering inpatient admissions, nursing documentation, pharmacy, billing, and PhilHealth EClaims. A phased rollout — ER and OPD first, then inpatient wards, then specialty departments — is also available for facilities that prefer lower cutover risk.

How does the system handle patient scheduling and appointment management for outpatient clinics?

Outpatient scheduling is built into the same system as the inpatient record — appointments, walk-in queue management, and teleconsult links all appear in one view.

A patient's outpatient appointment history, consultation notes, and test results are all accessible from the same record as their inpatient admissions. Queue management for walk-in outpatients — token issuance, waiting time display, and triage prioritization — is configurable per clinic. Teleconsultation links, where applicable, generate a secure video room and attach the encounter note to the patient chart.

Can the system generate the hospital's required DOH statistical reports?

Yes. Monthly and annual DOH statistical reports — admissions, discharges, diagnoses, bed utilization — are generated from the clinical data the system captures during normal operations.

DOH requires hospitals to submit statistical reports including: monthly hospital summary, top causes of morbidity and mortality by ICD-10 code, bed capacity utilization, and annual hospital report. We configure the reports to pull from the data captured at admission, discharge, and encounter level. Reports are generated in the format DOH HIS online submission requires.

How does drug interaction checking work?

Medication orders are checked against the patient's active medication list at the time of order entry. High-severity interactions block the order; lower-severity interactions generate a warning.

Drug interaction checking is configured against the Philippine National Formulary drug list supplemented by the WHO essential medicines database. Interaction severity levels — contraindicated, major, moderate, minor — are configurable by the clinical pharmacy team. Override of a blocked interaction requires a physician to document the clinical rationale. All overrides are logged.

Does the system support electronic prescriptions linked to the patient record?

Yes. Electronic prescriptions are generated from the physician's order entry, linked to the patient chart, and routed to the pharmacy — no transcription required.

The prescribing physician enters medication orders in the chart. The system generates a prescription that references the encounter, the physician's PRC license number, and the patient's full name and chart number. For outpatient prescriptions, a printed copy can be generated in the format community pharmacies accept. Prescription history is visible in every subsequent consultation.

How does the system handle discharge planning and discharge summaries?

Discharge summaries auto-populate from the admission record — admission date, principal diagnosis, procedures performed, medications at discharge, and follow-up instructions.

A discharge summary template pulls the patient's admission diagnosis, attending physician, length of stay, clinical course narrative (entered by the physician), and discharge medications from the chart. The physician edits and signs the draft; the signed summary is locked and linked to the record. Copies for PhilHealth, the HMO, and the patient are generated in a single step.

Can the system integrate with our existing PACS for radiology?

Yes. The system integrates with DICOM-compliant PACS via HL7 orders and results. If your PACS is not HL7-capable, we scope a file-based integration alternative.

Most modern PACS systems expose an HL7 interface for order and result exchange. We write the integration to your specific PACS vendor's implementation during scoping. Radiology reports appear in the patient chart as soon as the radiologist signs them in the PACS. For older or non-standard PACS setups, we evaluate file-based workarounds during the discovery call.

What happens when BIR or DOH requirements change after go-live?

Regulatory configuration updates — revised PhilHealth EClaims XML schema, new BIR form versions, updated DOH reporting formats — are applied under optional ops support.

Philippine healthcare regulations evolve: PHIC revises its EClaims schema, BIR updates the EIS transmission requirements, DOH changes the statistical reporting format. Under optional ops support at ₱50K–250K/month, we monitor regulatory issuances and apply updates before the effective date. Structural changes to the data model — when a new regulatory requirement demands new data capture, not just a format change — are scoped as a separate build.

Does the system support patient self-registration and digital consent forms?

Yes. Patients complete registration and sign consent forms on a tablet or kiosk at the facility — data flows directly into the chart, no re-entry.

Self-registration collects demographics, insurance information, and HMO LOA details before the patient reaches the admissions counter. Digital informed consent is signed on a tablet, timestamped, and stored as a tamper-evident document in the patient record. The admissions clerk reviews and confirms the data; the workflow reduces average admissions time significantly.

Can the system be accessed from multiple locations — satellite clinics, home health, or outreach programs?

Yes. The system is web-based. Any authorized user with network access sees the same patient record in real-time, regardless of location.

A hospital running satellite clinics, outreach programs, or home health visits needs a single patient record visible across all sites. We build the system as a multi-facility, multi-location deployment by default. Access permissions are location-scoped where needed — a satellite clinic nurse sees records from their site, not the full inpatient census.

How does the system handle surgical case management and operating room scheduling?

Surgical cases are scheduled in the OR module, pre-op and post-op notes are linked to the inpatient chart, and implant and blood product usage is recorded for billing and inventory.

OR scheduling — surgeon, procedure, instrument tray, anesthesiologist — integrates with the inpatient chart. Pre-operative checklist, surgical safety checklist (WHO protocol), anesthesia record, and post-operative notes all link to the same surgical encounter. Implant tracking and blood product administration records are captured for billing and for regulatory implant traceability.

Does the system generate medical certificates, clearances, and medico-legal documents?

Yes. Medical certificates, fit-to-work clearances, and medico-legal reports are generated from the clinical record — no separate template management system.

Physicians generate medical certificates and clearances directly from the patient's encounter record. The certificate references the attending physician's PRC number and the facility's BIR-registered name. Medico-legal reports — for court submission or police referral — are formatted per the requirements of the requesting institution. All documents are logged in the patient chart as generated.

What is the pricing for an EMR build?

You own an EMR build outright for one fee, scoped to your scale — inpatient, outpatient, specialty departments, integrations — with no per-bed or per-user licence. Optional ops support is ₱50K–250K/month with no lock-in. Your exact scope and price are confirmed on the first call.

Scope determines cost. A full inpatient-plus-outpatient system with PhilHealth EClaims, HMO billing, pharmacy, lab results, and BIR billing integration is at the higher end of the range. A focused outpatient-plus-billing system for a large specialty clinic is at the lower end. The first call with Dr. Po establishes scope; the proposal confirms the number. There is no per-user fee and no annual licence increase.

How does Orkids compare to SeriousMD for a hospital setting?

SeriousMD is a consumer app built for solo practitioners. A hospital needs inpatient order management, ward nursing documentation, pharmacy dispensing, and multi-payer billing — SeriousMD does not cover this scope.

SeriousMD's strength is outpatient scheduling and basic charting for individual physician practices. It processes tens of thousands of individual doctor subscriptions. A 50-bed or larger hospital needs a clinical data model that spans departments, manages concurrent inpatient admissions across multiple wards, and integrates with a pharmacy system, laboratory, and billing module — that is a different system category.

What does the system do for infection control and antibiotic stewardship?

The system tracks antibiotic prescription rates, culture sensitivity results, and infection control events — generating reports for the infection control committee.

DOH and JCI-aligned infection control programs require hospitals to track antibiotic days of therapy, broad-spectrum antibiotic use, and healthcare-associated infection (HAI) events. The system captures culture and sensitivity results from the laboratory interface, flags empiric antibiotic orders against sensitivity patterns, and generates the infection control committee's monthly report from clinical data — not from a manual line list.

Can the system generate billing reports for hospital management and the COO?

Yes. Revenue reports by department, payer, attending physician, and procedure are available in real-time — not reconstructed from printed charge slips at month-end.

Hospital management needs revenue visibility across PhilHealth, HMO, self-pay, and corporate accounts. The billing module generates daily revenue summaries, aging reports by payer, and procedure-level profitability data from posted charges. The COO dashboard shows current census, bed utilization, and revenue in a single view. Month-end close does not require manual reconciliation of charge slips — the ledger is always current.

How does the system handle medical records requests and release of information?

Records release is tracked in the system — requestor identity, authorization, date, and documents released are logged. Patients access their records per their consent preferences.

Release of information for insurance claims, legal proceedings, or patient requests requires authorization tracking under RA 10173. The system logs every records release event with the requestor, the legal basis for release, and the documents provided. Patient portal access, where offered, is scoped separately and includes consent management for what each patient can see and share.

Does the system support barcode or RFID patient identification?

Yes. Patient wristband barcodes link to the chart at every point of care — medication administration, specimen collection, blood product administration — for identity verification.

Patient identification errors at medication administration, specimen labeling, and blood transfusion are a major source of patient harm. The system supports barcode scanning at each step — nurse scans the patient wristband, scans the medication, the system verifies the match before dispensing. Specimen labels are printed at the bedside with the barcode linking to the order. RFID wristbands are supported where the facility's existing infrastructure includes RFID readers.

Can the system integrate with our existing hospital information system (HIS) during transition?

Yes. We scope a data migration and parallel-run period during the transition — historical patient records are migrated, not abandoned.

Cutting over from an existing HIS requires migrating active patient records, encounter history, and billing data. We scope the migration during the discovery call — what data migrates, in what format, and for what period. A parallel-run period — where both systems are live simultaneously — allows staff to verify the new system before the old one is decommissioned. We do not cut over on a 'clean break' that loses patient history.

What training does staff need before go-live?

We run role-based training in the final week before go-live — nursing, physician, billing, pharmacy, and admissions each receive a workflow-specific session.

Training is structured by role, not by module. Nurses learn ward admission, medication administration, and nursing notes. Physicians learn order entry, chart documentation, and discharge summary. Billing staff learn charge capture, HMO LOA entry, and claim generation. Each session is two to four hours. We provide a sandbox environment for practice before go-live and a quick-reference guide for each role.