Price negotiation will help determine the prices of drugs to be included in PhilHealth benefit packages. However, these prices, based on my understanding of the JAO, are applicable to providers under the jurisdiction of DOH. As such, providers who are either private or LGU-sponsored may not directly benefit from it. A consolidated/pooled volume will drive … Continue reading Should PhilHealth use the centrally negotiated price of drugs in the development of benefit packages?
healthcare
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
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
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
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)
Call for fair and adequate hazard pay
How much is the price of upholding the rights of nurses in the country? For some, it costs nothing. Nurses are at the frontline of the health care delivery system. They become the first and last health workers in contact with patients and their families. As such, nurses are exposed to low- and high-risk hazards … Continue reading Call for fair and adequate hazard pay
Pen Point 42
Given adequate information, the market theory assumes that consumers know what is best for themselves; hence, they make choices that maximize their total satisfaction. If this assumption is wrong, markets may not efficiently produce. We call this satisfaction consumers gain from consuming a good or service as “utility”. The satisfaction (or utility) depends on the … Continue reading Pen Point 42
Pen Point 35
Issues with equity have influenced health care for many years. Equity, in the context of social health insurance such as the Philippines’ Philhealth, means access of the whole population to a package of health services by paying an affordable contribution, and sometimes no contribution at all (for senior citizens and indigents). Philhealth can improve access … Continue reading Pen Point 35
A Day in the Life of a Neuroscience Nurse
There is no typical day for a nurse, especially a neurology nurse. No matter what a nurse does, or where he/she does it, there is always the unpredictability of how a day will start and end. It is an incredibly demanding field, but it can be a rewarding and fulfilling one.
UP Manila says ‘No’ to Medical Cannabis Legalization in the Philippines
I agree that: 1) further research on Cannabis' efficacy and safety should be done under strict protocols (provided by national institutions) to ensure patient safety and safeguard public health. 2) any policy, especially public health policies, should be evidence-based. "UP Manila says 'NO' to Medical Cannabis Legalization" Download whole document: https://www.upm.edu.ph/node/2264
Pens & Needles 