NEARLY 600 registered nurses will soon be recruited and deployed by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to government hospitals nationwide to provide better, more personalized services to members at point-of-service.
Under the PhilHealth CARES (PhilHealth Customer Assistance, Relations and Empowerment Staff) Project, these nurses will be trained to help lessen the problems encountered in benefits availment of PhilHealth members. They will also help the hospitals in facilitating the documentary requirements and significantly reduce the number of Return-to-Hospital (RTH) claims, which affects the processing time of claims.
"We value partnership. The main reason why we are innovating our ways is to be more responsive to the needs of our members and partners," said Dr. Eduardo P. Banzon, PhilHealth President and CEO. "The launch of PhilHealth CARES will definitely improve our front line service, with PhilHealth personnel assisting them at point-of- service which is the hospital. Availment of benefits will be easier and more convenient. They may also assist non-members and encourage them to enroll in the National Health Insurance Program," he added.
Aside from providing member assistance, the CARES will also perform data- gathering functions such as exit interviews with patients and members, surveys and other studies that PhilHealth might initiate in the future. Banzon however clarified that the nurses will not do premium collection functions "…as these can be handled very well by our accredited collecting partners."
Initially, around 334 CARES will be fielded to Levels 3 and 4 government hospitals, and around 196 more will be deployed to Levels 1 and 2 hospitals. Deployment is expected to commence in March, once the recruitment and training processes have been completed. The engagement will run for six (6) months but may be renewed until end-2012.
Under the guidance of Health Secretary Dr. Enrique T. Ona, who also sits as the Chairman of the PhilHealth Board, PhilHealth chose to tap nurses for the project "as our way of helping provide jobs for these health professionals. We know that there are many nursing graduates, and even registered nurses for that matter, who are seeking employment and we hope that this project will be of help," Banzon said, adding that for the hospitals, this project will result to reduced number of PhilHealth-related inquiries at their billing sections.
Interested applicants may email their resumes to hrmdd.admin@philhealth.gov.ph under the subject heading "PhilHealth CARES application."
The PhilHealth CARES project evolved from the initiatives of some of the regional offices who deployed personnel at accredited hospitals in their areas of jurisdiction to provide member assistance. "We recognize the fact that the ease by which a member is able to go through the availment process at point-of-service can really make or break their PhilHealth experience, that is why we want to be where we will matter most," Banzon said. (END)