July 31, 2019 — “As a leader in healthcare education and research, the role of the UP-PGH is vital in the impending reforms related to the Universal Health Care program,” stated Health Secretary Francisco Duque during a forum on the role of UP-PGH in Universal Health Care held on 26 July 2019.

“The shift to UHC necessitates us to shape the future physicians to be not just clinicians but physicians who are also managers and administrators. In other words, a clinical leader who wears many hats and the DOH looks up to UP-PGH to explore the possibility of a medical curriculum that defines what it takes to be a human resource for health tailored for universal health care,” stressed Sec. Duque. 

The health secretary emphasized that the UHC, in its current state, has no prescribed financing models for teaching and training institutions; these institutions and PGH will now have to take the lead and demonstrate to other teaching and training institutions the ways to success. DOH looks up to the PGH to explore options in pioneering and improving terminal hospital processes such as service training or service rationing and share to other apex hospitals. As an apex hospital, PGH’s active engagement will be required for national coverage through its various facilities.

“By cutting down the health risks of Filipinos, health becomes much more manageable and sustainable,” he explained.  The UHC focuses on promoting preventive care and making Filipinos health literate which will translate to very good health-seeking behavior. It ensures population-based health services such as family planning, nutrition programs, mental health programs, vector control and disease surveillance and health promotion, campaigns, additional health measures through legislations, and health impact assessment.

“In taking care of Filipinos, as we transition to the new system, your deal should be investing in primary care providers to carry out essential services such as cultivation diagnostics, screening diagnosis and treatment, and public health services.” He added that UHC will accommodate the needs of Filipinos by covering all bases and providing access to quality and comprehensive primary care through a coordinated primary care network and expanded primary care benefits. 

He cited several health reforms in UHC such as making primary care physicians (PCPs) digital health ready to ensure a clear and well-coordinated health system for vertical and horizontal referrals across all levels, ensuring that all hospitals will be able to accommodate patients by dedicating necessary bed space, requiring partner drug outlets to have the generic drugs listed in the primary care formulary available to the public, devising a new payment scheme where providers are prepaid through a diagnosis related group (DRG)-based budget but with mandated phased co-payments for facilities and physicians and performance-based financial incentives, and support to providers by giving preferences for licensing and augmentation of  health human resources for those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Dr. Antonio Dans of the PGH Department of Medicine Section of Adult Medicine was in agreement and said PGH needs to lead the country into changing our thoughts about primary care as the lowest rank in the healthcare ladder.

“When you ask other countries about what’s the most important thing that brought primary care forward; Australia, New Zealand, UK, it will answer it was when they began to regard primary care as a specialty,” he explained.

“PGH has always been a leader in the field of research and we anticipate that UHC will generate more demands for quality research and we also hope to capitalize the research generated by the institution to help us rethink the way we deliver care, make more informed decisions, and influence the health policies to be shaped or developed,” added Sec. Duque. He urged PGH to create a research-enabling environment for both the clinical and inter-disciplinary studies and become an innovator of medical research processes. His  advise was to create spaces for special items and funding for dedicated research and development thereby fostering a new era for advancement in clinical medicine as well as public health.

Charmaine Lingdas | Published in UP Manila Healthscape July – August 2019