ACESS requires digital credentials and geolocation for its health inspectors

The Health Services and Prepaid Medicine Quality Assurance Agency (ACESS) approved the implementation of institutional credentials with QR codes for all its authorized technical personnel and the recording of geographic location at the start of inspections. The decision is contained in Resolution ACESS-ACESS-2026-0031-R, signed on October 21, 2026, by the executive director Ana María Murillo Zavala and published in the Official Registry No. 406 on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, p. 39.

ACESS is the technical-administrative body attached to the Ministry of Public Health, created by Executive Decree No. 703, with jurisdiction throughout the national territory and the authority to grant, suspend, cancel, and restore operating permits, licenses, registrations, and sanitary accreditations. Article 27 of Resolution No. ACESS-ACESS-2025-0044-R, which issues the Technical Standard for the Issuance of Operating Permits, already required the technical commission or technical analyst to “present themselves and identify themselves with their credential and attire provided by ACESS” before the legal representative or technical manager of the establishment.

That same regulation establishes, in its article 22, that the inspection date must be notified to the email registered in the ACESS computer system at least forty-eight hours in advance. The new resolution converts that in-person identity control into a verifiable digital mechanism.

QR Code Credentials and Location Marking

The approved document contains seven resolutive articles. ACESS ordered:

• To approve the institutional credentials with QR codes and the mandatory guidelines for digital presentation and identification and location marking (georeferencing) at the start of technical inspections.
• To mandate that Agency personnel apply the digital identification and validation mechanisms via QR code and the recording of the geographic location at the beginning of each proceeding.
• To authorize the start of administrative and technical actions to develop and implement the credentials nationwide.
• To entrust the General Technical Coordination and the technical directorates with the coordination and execution of the measure.
• To entrust the Human Talent Administration unit with the formal delivery of the credentials, with documentary proof of receipt.
• To order the publication on the institutional website, managed by the Social Communication Unit, and the management of its publication in the Official Registry, managed by the Legal Advisory Directorate.

Administrative Background

The resolution is based on two internal documents that established the technical scope of the measure:

• Memorandum ACESS-CGT-2026-0162-M, dated September 4, 2026, regarding the “Presentation of Need in the Control Improvement Process for ACESS Personnel (Institutional Credentials with QR Code),” which included the list of analysts revised by the Human Talent Administration Directorate.
• Memorandum ACESS-CGT-2026-0291-M, dated October 12, 2026, through which the general technical coordinator, Narcisa Elizabeth Vallejo Zambrano, submitted to the executive director the Mandatory Guideline for digital presentation and identification via QR code and location marking at the start of inspections.

The appointment of Murillo Zavala is recorded in Personnel Action ACESS-TH-2026-0173, dated July 3, 2026, signed by the Ministry of Public Health.

Personal data and information security

The resolution orders the application of mechanisms “in accordance with the approved institutional guidelines and the applicable regulations regarding personal data protection and information security.” The text invokes the Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data, particularly legitimate processing for a mission of public interest, the principles of purpose, loyalty, and transparency, the data subject’s right to information, and data protection by design and by default.

It also cites the Government Information Security Framework (EGSI v3), issued via Ministerial Agreement MINTEL-MINTEL-2024-0003 on January 31, 2024, which is mandatory for entities of the Executive Branch, and the principles of efficacy, efficiency, and transparency of the Organic Administrative Code.

Validity and scope

The resolution entered into force upon its signing on October 21, 2026, “without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry,” and does not set a specific deadline for the delivery of credentials nor a deployment schedule. The seven-page instrument was certified on October 23, 2026, by the Legal Advisory Directorate, signed by María del Pilar Bayas Romero.

The change has a direct effect on clinics, hospitals, and offices subject to sanitary control: personnel appearing for an inspection must be identifiable and verifiable via QR code, and their location will be recorded at the start of the proceeding. For users, the mechanism provides a way to verify that the person visiting an establishment is technical personnel authorized by ACESS and not an unauthorized third party.

Source: Official Registry No. 406, Tuesday, November 10, 2026, Section I, p. 39 (official reference: Resolution No. ACESS-ACESS-2026-0031-R).