Koronadal City—PhilHealth identified the Provincial Government of South Cotabato to implement a sandbox to test network contracting for primary health care services, Marifort Rafael, UHC Provincial Program Focal Person said.
“Under the UHC Law, PhilHealth is mandated to contract networks as opposed to individual facilities, which creates opportunities for better engagement of both public and private providers,” Rafael said.
Last January, Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo, Jr., Vice Governor Arthur Pingoy, Jr. Board member Irvin Luntao and the department heads of the Provincial Capitol attended an orientation called by the PhilHealth regional office to strengthen local government units in managing contracted facilities for primary care.
“The project provides technical assistance to local governments to strengthen health purchasing policies and practices in support of the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law enacted in 2019,” Rafael said.
The pilot implementation will determine the challenges in contracting networks for primary care.
Rafael also stressed that networks should also improve beneficiaries’ access to comprehensive services by linking different types and levels of facilities. It can ensure that all services in the benefit package can be delivered and are available at the necessary quality.
The workshop is funded by USAID Reach Health.
