In observance of the Holy Week, the Philippine News Agency’s online news service will be off on March 29, Good Friday, and March 30, Black Saturday. Normal operations will resume on March 31, Easter Sunday.

— The Editors

Over 300K Sorsoganons enlist with PhilHealth

By Connie Calipay

July 1, 2021, 8:34 pm

LEGAZPI CITY – The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has received some 309,000 electronic member registration forms (ePMRFs) from Sorsoganons in simple turnover rites in Pasig City.

In an official statement on Thursday, PhilHealth said the ePMRFs it recently received shall be used to enroll Sorsoganons with PhilHealth to grant them immediate eligibility to health benefits and services whenever and wherever they need it.

PhilHealth said the members' data are also necessary for their enlistment in accredited PhilHealth Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama (KONSULTA) providers in their area.

Set to be rolled out in July 2021, KONSULTA will give beneficiaries access to primary care services that include diagnostic and laboratory tests such as chest X-rays, fasting blood sugar, and electrocardiogram (ECG), among others. These tests will help in the screening for medical conditions or in avoiding them.

"In addition, drugs and medicines for certain medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension will be dispensed through KONSULTA providers for free. KONSULTA is one of the promises of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law," the statement read.

The partnership stemmed from the initiative of Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero, with the support of Development Bank of the Philippines–Data Center, Inc. (DBP-DCI) which assisted Sorsogon on the use of the ePMRF Portal.

Dr. Arturo Alcantara, PhilHealth acting chief information officer, said “PhilHealth has put considerable effort in Sorsogon to pilot eKONSULTA,” and thanked DBP-DCI for developing the ePMRF Portal that helped capture members' data. This information is then transferred to PhilHealth for validation, data mapping, and personal identification number (PIN) generation prior to registration with KONSULTA.

Alcantara said, “If we are successful there [Sorsogon], then its rollout in July should run smoothly in other areas.”

Dr. Mike Santos, UHC Integration Consultant for Sorsogon, thanked PhilHealth for its pilot implementation of KONSULTA in the province.

He said, “It has been the aspiration of the Hon. Chiz [Escudero] since he assumed as governor to provide free and quality health care in Sorsogon.”

He noted that more than 90 percent of the province’s population is now covered by the National Health Insurance Program. (PNA)



Comments