We look forward to 2021 with faith and expectancy for its promise - new life, joy, hope, peace, healing and contentment. God said, "Behold, I make all things new." Let's have the patience to wait for the coming of these divine gifts. May our constant reminder then be that of Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know … Continue reading Welcome, 2021!
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Holiday greetings from our family
It's hard when Christmas comes during these trying times. But beyond our pains, struggles and anxieties these days, God's love has and will always triumph because it is Emmanuel - God with us. With God, we look with hope to better time - better health and well-being and a more peaceful nation.
Merry Christmas 2020!
It's almost the end of the year 2020! Despite the events that transpired in the past few months, even when it's hard, let us try to leave the year with the hope that the coming year will be better for all of us. It has been an honor to work for the Filipino people through … Continue reading Merry Christmas 2020!
Principle behind IRM is good
During the Committee Hearing on August 17, Marikina Rep. Quimbo was surprised to know that hospitals are allowed to use funds from the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) for other operational expenses (e.g. salary). Let me reiterate that the same mechanism is expected when "prospective payments" (in the form of global budgets) will be provided to hospitals … Continue reading Principle behind IRM is good
Congressional hearing: Corruption allegations against PhilHealth
Congressional Hearing 5 August 2020 1) I do not agree with Cong. Defensor when he said that investing in an IT system while still using the All Case Rate (ACR) system will "computerize" corruption in PhilHealth. Regardless of the provider payment system, an IT system will actually help the Corporation and health care providers … Continue reading Congressional hearing: Corruption allegations against PhilHealth
#NoOneLeftBehind: Modify the HTA process for rare diseases
How do we shape a future with no one left behind? In many countries, health technology assessment (HTA) is a relevant consideration for the distribution of limited resources and is used to decide whether a health technology should be reimbursed or not. In the Philippines, under the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, only health technologies … Continue reading #NoOneLeftBehind: Modify the HTA process for rare diseases
Stepwise Approach to Address the Nursing Shortage in Critical Care Settings
With limited manpower and resources, hospitals can only do so much in a pandemic. Sadly, the country is still in the pandemic phase of the COVID-19 outbreak and more cases are expected to be confirmed in the following weeks. The Department of Health (DOH) has recently identified six areas in the Visayas as emerging COVID-19 … Continue reading Stepwise Approach to Address the Nursing Shortage in Critical Care Settings
PhilHealth should provide incentives to eliminate out-of-pocket expenses
PhilHealth has instituted a no copayment policy for its benefit packages for the diagnosis and management of COVID-19. The costing of these benefit packages is a result of an iterative process involving data collection, stakeholder consultations, and data analysis. As such, we can say that the “maximum” health care cost for a specific service (e.g. … Continue reading PhilHealth should provide incentives to eliminate out-of-pocket expenses
Pandemic Financing: How the World is Funding the COVID-19 Response (Part 3)
What mechanisms are available to fund the pandemic response? The Ebola crisis in West Africa in 2014 highlighted the difficulty in rapidly organizing funding for an outbreak, especially among economically vulnerable countries. To address this and to prevent future financial catastrophes, several financing mechanisms have been presented to countries. These mechanisms aim to fund the … Continue reading Pandemic Financing: How the World is Funding the COVID-19 Response (Part 3)
Pen Point 51
The deluge of health information poses a great challenge to patients, especially if the information cannot be critically analyzed and synthesized. Therefore, it is incumbent for health care providers to examine and integrate into a coherent whole all the pieces of evidence coming from disparate sources, and help patients make sense of the rapidly changing … Continue reading Pen Point 51
Pens & Needles 