PhilHealth switched to setting up online payments

Legislators have filed a bill mandating the use of online payments, notably by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. (Filhealth).

Representative of the city of Davao. Paolo Z. Duterte, Benguet Rep. Eric G. Yap and representatives of the ACT-CIS party. Edvic G. Yap and Jeffrey Soriano filed House Bill (HB) 4808, which aims to create a digital system designed to complement and enhance healthcare delivery.

Duterte said PhilHealth’s newly appointed acting president and CEO Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. may begin to expand the use of digital solutions in the life of the insurance company, allowing the use of more convenient online payment platforms, such as e-wallets, when calculating PhilHealth premiums.

Making premium payments easier and more convenient will encourage members, especially those who voluntarily pay, to continue contributing to the PhilHealth fund, Duterte said.

Duterte also suggested to Ledesma that they scale up the implementation of PhilHealth’s eKonsulta, which is a standalone web application that can be used to encode patient data and medical records. This can help reconcile patient health data and ensure that accurate and meaningful medical records are used in diagnosis.

eKonsulta could be included in the proposed National e-Health System (NeHS) under HB 4808, which also covers the use of e-prescriptions, e-pharmacies and telemedicine, Duterte said.

Additional

DUTERTE said NeHS recognizes the use of digital solutions as complementary and complementary to other traditional health care delivery methods to the extent permitted by law, especially to support primary health care needs and services at GIDA.

He noted that telemedicine or online medical consultations are now widely used in other countries such as China and Singapore, so that patients can easily make an appointment online without waiting hours in doctors’ offices.

In the Philippines, the use of telemedicine has skyrocketed during the pandemic, when the provision of local health services has become limited.

One important aspect of NeHS is that it will operate under a health sector plan that makes health and health-related data available anytime, anywhere to a variety of stakeholders, including medical experts and researchers who can track outbreaks and help prevent spread. diseases,” Duterte said.

Key Players

The Department of Health (DOH) and PhilHealth, in partnership with the private sector, are key players in the implementation of NeHS.

The Ministry of Health, as the lead implementing agency, is tasked with transforming and strengthening the existing Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service (KMITS) into a full-fledged National eHealth Information and Services Bureau (NeHISB). This body will carry out the overall management and administration of NeHS.

It will also serve as secretariat to the Ministry of Health-led eHealth Policy and Coordination Council, tasked by the bill to develop and promote appropriate policies and guidelines for the effective implementation of NeHS.

Duterte said the use of digital technologies for healthcare delivery could help identify symptoms in patients at the early stages of their illnesses and save lives.

“We need to rethink how we provide quality health care to our compatriots, especially those who live in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas where there is a shortage of medical professionals,” Duterte said.