If you run a YAKAP-accredited clinic, you know there are major changes this year: to get paid, PhilHealth requires every clinic to submit data through a PhilHealth-certified Electronic Medical Record (EMR).
We compiled a handy guide for handling this change:
1. A PhilHealth-Certified EMR Provider
Your EMR must be on PhilHealth's official list of Certified Service Providers (CSPs), which handles:
- Encoding First Patient Encounters (FPE)
- Logging consultations, lab results, and prescriptions
- Submitting data directly to PhilHealth's YAKAP API in real time
Before signing with an EMR, confirm that they are a verified provider on the PhilHealth list.
2. Register with Your Chosen Provider
After choosing an EMR, you will need to submit:
- HERF (HCI Engagement Registration Form)
- ACKF (Account & Cipher Key Request Form)
- An NDA with your provider
This is submitted to the PhilHealth Regional Office (PRO), who will issue the cipher key. This is the password that your EMR will use to submit your data to PhilHealth.
3. Internet Connectivity
PhilHealth requires stable connectivity of 25–100 Mbps, compatible with your chosen EMR. Bad internet will cause submission failures and delayed payments!
4. Compatible Hardware
The Service Availability Tool (SAT) requirements include:
- A functional computer setup compatible with your EMR provider
- Updated Google Chrome browser
- A printer
- A face-capturing device (webcam or mobile phone) for patient verification
- Backup power (generator or offline-compatible solution) for outages
5. A Data Migration Plan (If You're Switching Systems)
If you're moving from another platform, you'll need to:
- Export your existing patient data
- Import it into your new certified EMR
- Train your staff on the new workflow before go-live
Give yourself real buffer time here — a rushed, last-minute migration is where most clinics run into trouble.
6. User Accounts
Create doctor, nurse, and staff accounts in the EMR, to create patient records, schedule appointments, record vitals, lab results, and medicines, and perform consultations.
7. Ongoing Compliance, Not Just a One-Time Setup
Certification isn't "set and forget." You'll need to keep up with:
- PhilHealth Check Utility (PCU) liveness checks after every encounter
- YAKAP Empanelment Slips (YES) after the First Patient Encounter
- Complete, accurate encounter data — incomplete records affect your capitation payments
8. Tracking Clinic Performance
To receive the full PhilHealth reimbursement, clinics must monitor and improve their performance. This means tracking the number of first patient encounters done, and compliance to the PhilHealth performance criteria (i.e. % consultations done, % patients with lab services, % patients with antibiotics/NCD).
About RecordKo
The good thing is: RecordKo makes this easy for you, by taking care of the requirements above:
- Certified & connected — RecordKo is a PhilHealth-certified EMR that transmits encrypted XML directly to the YAKAP API. No manual portal uploads, no eKonsulta.
- We handle registration for you — We walk you through the HERF, ACKF, and NDA process and submit to your PRO. Once your cipher key is issued, we configure it — you don't touch it.
- Browser-based, nothing to install — RecordKo runs in Google Chrome. No software to download, no server to maintain. If you have internet and a browser, you're ready.
- Works on your existing hardware — Any computer that runs Chrome works. Built-in webcam photo capture for patient verification (cropped to PhilHealth's 35×45mm spec automatically). Generate and print eKAS, ePresS, and empanelment slips straight from the browser — no special printer setup.
- Built-in data migration — Upload encrypted XML from your old system (eKonsulta or other EMRs). RecordKo decrypts, validates, and imports patient records in bulk — no manual re-encoding.
- Role-based accounts out of the box — Doctor, nurse/staff, and admin roles with appropriate access. Nurses handle profiling and vitals, doctors handle consultations, and admin manages clinic settings — each under their own login for audit compliance.
- PCU and empanelment built into the workflow — The PCU liveness check runs at the start of every encounter (registration and consultation). The YAKAP Empanelment Slip generates automatically from the patient's data — download or print in one click. No separate forms, no forgetting.
- Real-time performance tracking — Our Finance & Performance dashboard computes your Performance Factor live from your consultation data. See exactly which patients are missing consultations, labs, or medicines. Click into any indicator to get a name-by-name list your staff can act on today — with mobile numbers for outreach.
Want to see how we help YAKAP clinics set up their EMR and maximize payments? Book a demo with us today!