Health Record Rights Index · country brief · this country's data as of October 1, 2026
Who holds the health record in Colombia?
In 2026, Colombia scores 43 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record. It is tied for 80th of 198 countries and territories, and could rank anywhere from 58th to 103rd allowing for scoring error, in the Weak band (25 to 44). Who holds the keys: the government. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026.
The government decides, with limited say for the person. Its strongest right, compared with the typical country, is doctors see it when treating you (50 out of 100, against 33 to 34 for the typical country). The furthest behind is control over who sees it (27 out of 100, against 30 for the typical country).
Colombia's law says patients own their electronic record and must consent to sharing, but the new national exchange is built for providers, not patients.
Published · updated · this country's data as of October 1, 2026 · research tool, not legal advice
overall score · Weak band, 25 to 44
43/100
rank among 198 countries and territories; likely 58th to 103rd, allowing for scoring error
In 2026, getting your full record scores 45 out of 100 in Colombia; the typical country scores 40 to 45. Ley 1751 and Ley 2015 give patients a free, complete electronic copy of their record. No national patient portal was found; the new national summaries are viewed by providers, so access still runs provider by provider. Source: Secretaria del Senado, 2015, and the other sources below.
Who controls health records in Colombia?
In 2026, the government holds the keys to your health record in Colombia. Control over who sees it scores 27 out of 100 in Colombia; the typical country scores 30. Ley 2015 says providers may access the electronic record only with the person's prior, express consent. The rollout rules describe automatic sharing with any authorised professional and no patient-facing consent switch or access log. Source: Funcion Publica, January 31, 2020, and the other sources below.
How does Colombia compare?
In 2026, Colombia scores 43 out of 100, against 39 for the typical country. This brief compares it with Ecuador (43 out of 100), Mexico (42 out of 100) and Panama (44 out of 100). Source: the ranking of all 198 countries and territories.
Eight rights, compared with Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and the typical country
Scores out of 100, by right
Getting your full record20%
45
50 · 55 · 50
Control over who sees it20%
27
30 · 35 · 32
Privacy and security15%
50
45 · 40 · 48
One record across your care15%
50
40 · 38 · 45
Protection from sale and ads10%
50
52 · 45 · 52
Doctors see it when treating you10%
50
40 · 35 · 45
Your say over research use5%
45
49 · 50 · 49
Rules for AI in your care5%
35
45 · 38 · 35
Black dot: Colombia. Hollow dots: Ecuador, Mexico, Panama (scores out of 100 on the right, same order). Gray line: the typical country of all 198. Overall: Colombia 43 out of 100. Scores move in steps of about 5 points, so read a rank with its likely range.
What would Colombia need to change to score higher?
Colombia sits in Weak (25 to 44); Mixed starts at 45. Its two weakest rights, compared with the typical country and weighted by how much each counts, are control over who sees it (27 out of 100, against 30 for the typical country) and your say over research use (45 out of 100, against 46 for the typical country). Our scoring rules give more points for:
Control over who sees it: A way to say no to sharing (or to be asked first), a log you can read of who opened your record, and finer choices about who sees what. Together these put this right at 60 to 80 out of 100.
Your say over research use: A way to say no to research use that is actually honored, or being asked first, plus a public list of what research used the data. That puts this right at 55 to 85 out of 100.
Which laws give health record rights in Colombia?
Ley Estatutaria 1751 de 2015 (derecho fundamental a la salud): Right to consult the whole clinical record free, get a copy, and confidentiality.
Ley 2015 de 2020 (historia clinica electronica interoperable): Patient owns the electronic record; consent for access; free electronic copy; national interoperability.
Ley 1581 de 2012 (proteccion de datos personales): Health data sensitive; explicit authorisation; breach reporting; SIC fines up to 2,000 minimum wages.
Doctors, waits and private care context, not part of the score
Doctors per 10,000
25.4 2023 · 37th highest of 38 OECD countries
Nurses and midwives per 10,000
15.7 2024 · 38th highest of 38 OECD countries
Private insurance + out-of-pocket
23.3% 2023 · 18th highest of 35 OECD countries
Record reaches private care?
partly
Compulsory private insurance, counted separately: 6.3% of health spending (2023).
"Más de 1.400 prestadores de salud públicos y privados en más de 4.491 sedes interoperando, y más de 390 municipios conectados."
Real cases
April 13, 2026 · La FM Regulator orders hospital and insurer to fix data handling after a patient's record leaked
August 23, 2025 · El Tiempo · archived copy Insurer sanctioned for sending a patient's full record to the patient's employer
Who to contact in Colombia
Not legal advice. Laws, offices and websites can change, so check with the office itself before you rely on anything here.
For Colombia, we list 2 official offices to contact about your health record, as of :
See your record: ask the records office of your doctor, hospital or clinic
Privacy regulator:Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (Superintendence of Industry and Commerce of Colombia)
Patient rights body:Superintendencia Nacional de Salud (National Health Superintendency)
In 2026, Colombia scored 43 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record, tied for 80th of 198 countries and territories (could be 58th to 103rd), in the Weak band. Who holds the keys: the government. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026, https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/colombia/
The 15 sources for Colombia
Each source appears once, under the first right it supports. Titles are shown as our research agents recorded them, usually in the page's own language; text in square brackets is our machine translation. Links were checked on the date shown.
Getting your full record (4 sources)
“Ley Estatutaria 1751 de 2015, articulo 10” [Statutory Law 1751 of 2015, article 10] our machine translation
Secretaria del Senado [Secretariat of the Senate] (law or regulation) · Title in Spanish
Dated 2015 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“Informe especial: implementacion de la interoperabilidad de la historia clinica electronica” [Special report: implementation of electronic clinical record interoperability] our machine translation
Minsalud (government guidance) · Title in Spanish
Dated August 2026 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: Control over who sees it; One record across your care; Doctors see it when treating you; Rules for AI in your care
“SIC sanciona a EPS SOS por divulgar historia clinica de paciente con VIH” [SIC sanctions EPS SOS for disclosing the clinical record of a patient with HIV] our machine translation
consultorsalud.com (news) · Title in Spanish
Dated August 25, 2025 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“Supersalud confirma filtracion masiva de datos sensibles de su archivo documental” [Supersalud confirms massive leak of sensitive data from its document archive] our machine translation
eltiempo.com (news) · Title in Spanish
Dated April 1, 2026 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“CONPES 4144: hoja de ruta de Colombia en inteligencia artificial” [CONPES 4144: Colombia's roadmap on artificial intelligence] our machine translation
DNP (government guidance) · Title in Spanish
Dated May 16, 2025 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
SuperTruth Inc. · 24 S. 24th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA · +1 215 918 4140 · supertruth.ai Something wrong? Tell us · Questions or a briefing: supertruth.ai/on-the-record#contact · Full index: healthrecordrights.com
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (38 mostly high-income countries). DTI™: the Data Trust Index, which grades the evidence behind each score. SuperTruth makes it and publishes this index. Everything here comes from public information: laws, government and regulator pages, court decisions, published news, WHO, OECD and World Bank data. Full sources: https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/colombia/#sources. SuperTruth built this index and sells health data verification products; no one paid to be included. Research tool, not legal advice. Our scores and our own words are CC BY 4.0; quoted law and source titles stay with their owners.
