Our virtual poster for the 23rd Anniversary-Conference of the UP Manila National Institutes of Health is now up for viewing. Title: Financial Risk Protection Amidst the Pandemic: Development of the PhilHealth Benefit Packages for COVID-19Investigators: Melanie C. Santillan, MD; Merla Rose Reyes, RPh; Reiner Lorenzo Tamayo, RN Link to the virtual exhibit: https://nih.upm.edu.ph/nih2021eposters/387 Poster by Neil … Continue reading Conference Poster: Financial Risk Protection Amidst the Pandemic
COVID-19
Op-Ed: Insuring 100 Million People During COVID-19
Happy to share with you our article published by Think Global Health*. In this piece, we narrate the unique role of PhilHealth in the pandemic response and how it will contribute to the country's COVID-19 vaccination plan. To read the full article, please visit this webpage: https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/insuring-100-million-people-during-covid-19 Think Global Health is an initiative of the … Continue reading Op-Ed: Insuring 100 Million People During COVID-19
Mandatory vaccination and ethics
The ethical principle of autonomy, one that is widely used for guiding the professional conduct of health care workers, is relevant in the issue of COVID-19 vaccination. While utilitarianism would suggest that mandating vaccination among health workers will bring about the greatest good for the largest number of people, this could affect respect for autonomy. … Continue reading Mandatory vaccination and ethics
Government should provide financial support to PhilHealth
I agree that PhilHealth, as the implementer of the NHIP, should continue providing FP to all Filipinos by reimbursing claims. PHILHEALTH SHOULD NOT DENY CLAIMS JUST SO IT CAN PRESERVE FUNDS and have a longer actuarial life. IMHO, PhilHealth's role as a strategic purchaser of healthcare services/goods is the fulcrum that balances the health and … Continue reading Government should provide financial support to PhilHealth
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
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)
Pandemic Financing: How the World is Funding the COVID-19 Response (Part 1)
Introduction Many countries are scrambling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary focus has been on strengthening health systems to improve surge capacity1,2. At the same time, countries are faced with the difficulty of balancing the demands of responding to the pandemic with the need to maintain the delivery of essential health services2. This … Continue reading Pandemic Financing: How the World is Funding the COVID-19 Response (Part 1)
Pen Point 48
Good news if we've truly flattened the curve. But have we improved our health system's surge capacity? Some hospitals lack manpower and PPE. Ending the ECQ may mean well for the economy. However, without health systems strengthening and evidence-based measures to control community transmission, we'll continue to strain our overburdened health care system.
Pens & Needles 