DOH: 7 PhilHealth partners to form primary care networks

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DOH: 7 PhilHealth partners to form primary care networks

Willard Cheng,

ABS-CBN News

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Courtesy of DOH
Courtesy of DOH

MANILA — Health Secretary Ted Herbosa on Monday welcomed the agreement of 5 local government units and 2 private sector groups of clinics and doctors with PhilHealth to form the first 7 primary care networks (PCNs) in the country, with the aim of achieving universal health care.

Around 2 million Filipinos spread out across the provinces of Bataan, Guimaras, Quezon, South Cotabato, as well as Baguio City will benefit from the PCN innovation allowed under the Universal Health Care Act, the Department of Health said in a statement.

Another 300,000 Filipinos under the care of the LiFE group as well as QualiMed will also be subjected to the improvements in primary care financing, it added.

Under the Konsulta PCPN, Herbosa said advanced payments or "frontloading" of funds even before services have been rendered will be allowed, enabled by new Commission on Audit accounting guidelines.

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PhilHealth will allot P500-750 per patient per year for Konsulta PCPN.

"Ang ginagawa lang ng PhilHealth para 'pag nagbayad kasi kami ng primary care, bababa ang maoospital e di less ang bayad ng PhilHealth," Herbosa said.

Quezon Gov. Helen Tan hopes more local government units would follow suit.

"I hope that in the long run ay makapag-encourage tayo ng more local government executives to support," she said.

Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act defines "primary care" to be first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive and coordinated; accessible at the time of need; with a range of services for all presenting conditions; and able to coordinate referrals to other doctors, clinics and hospitals in the health care delivery system, when needed.

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The UHC Act makes it the main responsibility of the DOH and LGUs to make sure that the health care delivery system will make a primary care doctor, assisted by other health workers, available to each and every Filipino.

Meanwhile, Filipinos have the right to choose primary care doctors, either from public or private clinics.

The 7 Konsulta PCPNs caring for 2.3 million Filipinos are projected to be paid a total of P1.2 billion, which may be used to improve infrastructure, equipment, and staff compensation even before the first patient starts using services.

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