Government agencies and development partners have begun outlining concrete steps to improve telemedicine services in the Philippines, following a joint planning workshop aimed at turning evaluation findings into actionable reforms.

The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), through its Monitoring and Evaluation Staff, convened a Management Response and Action Planning Workshop on 16 March to address gaps in the implementation of telemedicine for individual-based health services.

The session focused on aligning agency responses with recommendations from a process evaluation, while identifying priority actions, timelines, and implementation arrangements within existing mandates. Participants also clarified institutional roles to ensure smoother coordination moving forward.

The activity forms part of a broader initiative under the Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation Project of DEPDev and the United Nations Development Programme, which seeks to strengthen the government’s capacity for evidence-based policymaking. The effort supports targets under the Philippine Development Plan 2023–2028 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Findings presented during the workshop were based on an evaluation conducted by the De La Salle University–Social Development Research Center, which assessed how telemedicine is currently delivered across the country. Agencies then translated these findings into management responses during guided planning sessions.

The workshop was led by Undersecretary Joseph J. Capuno and attended by Health Assistant Secretary Christian Lei M. Saquilabon, along with representatives from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), among others.

The initiative underscores a growing push within government to improve digital health services, as agencies work to make telemedicine more accessible, efficient, and responsive to patient needs.