The electronic health record: Ley 2015 de 2020
- Law
Law 2015 of 2020 creates the interoperable electronic health record so a patient's clinical data can be seen in any institution.
What it is
Law 2015 of 2020 (31 January) creates the interoperable electronic health record (IHCE): providers must place each person's relevant clinical data on a national platform so they can be consulted from any point of the care network. The patient owns the record and decides who uses it. Resolution 866 of 2021 defined the set of relevant clinical data that is exchanged.
Key articles
- Art. 1: the purpose is to regulate interoperability of the electronic health record across the life course.
- Art. 2: defines the electronic health record (a comprehensive, chronological record in information systems, with the professional's digital signature) and interoperability.
- Art. 3: providers must enter and make data available on the interoperability platform; the implementation plan had a maximum term of five years.
- Art. 5: providers remain responsible for safekeeping and custody in their own systems.
- Art. 6: each person owns their electronic health record; the owner and the obliged parties have access with prior, express consent.
- Art. 7: only the owner may authorise third parties, except where the law requires no authorisation.
- Art. 9: the patient has the right to receive the record electronically, free of charge, complete and quickly.
- Art. 12: forbids anyone who has had access from disclosing the data; art. 13: requires an information security and privacy plan.
In clinical practice
- In the emergency department, interoperability shows allergies, diagnoses and medicines recorded in another institution.
- Access to the platform does not change professional secrecy: opening a record unrelated to the care you give is misconduct.
- Copying and pasting earlier notes into an electronic record without checking them creates errors the doctor is also responsible for.
Status and official text
- Official text checked on 2026-11-05 on funcionpublica.gov.co (Law 2015 of 2020) and minsalud.gov.co (Resolution 866 of 2021).
- Partly regulated by Resolution 866 of 2021 (Ministry of Health and Ministry of ICT), which sets the set of relevant clinical data elements (arts. 1 and 5) and makes its use mandatory (art. 6).
- Retention periods are regulated by the National Archive and the Ministry of Health (arts. 3 and 15); Resolution 839 of 2017 applies today.
- Resolution 1995 of 1999 remains in force where not changed; data processing is also governed by Law 1581 of 2012.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
Who owns the electronic health record under Law 2015 of 2020?
Each person owns their electronic health record (art. 6); only they may authorise its use by third parties, except where the law says otherwise (art. 7).
Which rule defined the relevant clinical data for interoperability?
Resolution 866 of 2021 of the Ministries of Health and of Information and Communication Technologies.
May a provider charge the patient for handing over the electronic health record?
No. Art. 9 of Law 2015 of 2020 says it is delivered electronically, free of charge, complete and quickly.
Connections
Educational content on ethics and health law; not legal advice. Laws and case law change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, read the text in force and ask a lawyer or the medical ethics tribunal.
Sources: Ley 2015 de 2020, por medio de la cual se crea la historia clínica electrónica interoperable (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2020); Resolución 866 de 2021, set of relevant clinical data elements for medical record interoperability (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, 2021).
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.