PhilHealth to deploy nurses as customer relations staff

THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation will recruit and deploy registered nurses as customer assistance, relations and empowerment staff (CARES) to government hospitals to provide better, more personalized services to members at point-of-service.

Deployment is expected to start next month once the recruitment and training processes have been completed, said PhilHealth president Dr. Eduardo Banzon, adding that the engagement will run for six months but may be renewed until end of this year.

These nurses will be trained to help lessen the problems encountered in benefits availment of PhilHealth members and help the hospitals facilitate the documentary requirements to reduce the number of return-to-hospital (RTH) claims, which Banzon said, affects the processing time of claims.

The nurses to be hired and deployed under PhilHealth's CARES project will also do data- gathering, conduct surveys and other studies that PhilHealth might initiate. In a statement, Banzon said 334 nurses will initially be fielded to levels 3 and 4 government hospitals with 196 others to levels 1 and 2 health facilities.

The main reason why we are innovating our ways is to be more responsive to the needs of our members and partners. The launch of CARES will definitely improve our frontline service with PhilHealth personnel assisting them at point-of-service which is the hospital, he stressed, adding that availment of benefits will be made easier and more convenient.

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."