THE Board of Directors of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) recently reviewed the overall performance of the different Regional Offices in spearheading the implementation of the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP).

During the Board’s 12th Regular Meeting held on August 15, 2017 at the PhilHealth Head Office in Pasig City, Ruben John A. Basa, Officer-in-charge, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer reported on the performance of the Regional Offices and the various challenges they faced in collecting premium contributions.

He also reported that in terms of turn-around time in processing the reimbursement claims of accredited health care providers, the Regional Offices were doing better than the 60 days period provided by law within which to complete the process.

In the same meeting, the Board directed PhilHealth’s Top Management to improve on its membership registration and identification processes to enable the state health insurer to better serve the less privileged. The directive came after a presentation was made, comparing PhilHealth’s Indigent Program membership vis-a-vis the Listahanan 1 and 2 of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The Board also took note of the quarterly audit report presented by the Head of the Internal Audit Group and recommended that the focus must be on Management’s actions towards fully complying with the rules in light of audit findings reported.

To reiterate its commitment to prescribe the highest standards in leadership qualities for PhilHealth’s Executive and Managerial positions, the PhilHealth Board reiterated the importance of psychological, mental, and emotional fitness of the applicants, and adopted a policy to ensure that the neuro-psychological tests of applicants to said positions are undertaken before the Nominations Committee recommends its selections to the Board.

Meanwhile, Murray Cowan, a consultant from the European Union (EU) who undertook research on PhilHealth, presented the organizational changes that are expected soon, including reorganization, the transfer to the Corporate Center, and the anticipated Universal Health Care (UHC) Law. He recommended that as an immediate measure, a team must be created to anticipate the changes and to prepare a comprehensive plan including a communication plan, to maximize the opportunities that the forthcoming changes are expected to bring to the organization. (END)

(Reference: Dr. Israel Francis A. Pargas, Head Executive Assistant and Concurrent OIC-Vice President for Corporate Affairs Group, Tel. 0917-8089399)