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Saturday, February 07, 2004
DOH: Cutback on dentists’ Philhealth share ‘legal’
By Minerva Zamora-Arceo
THE Department of Health (DOH) in Central Luzon recently ruled that the deduction made to Pampanga government dentists’ Philhealth share was “fair and with legal basis.”
In an opinion letter addressed to Dr. Ernesto Santos, Pampanga provincial health officer II and head of the Diosdado P. Macapagal Provincial Memorial Hospital, DOH Regional Director Ethelyn P. Nieto said the reduction of the dentists’ Philhealth share to 25 percent as compared to that received by the medical doctors was not a unilateral action.
“It was a collegial decision of the Chiefs of Hospital (in Pampanga) to which these affected dentists are assigned. He (Santos) merely presided over that October 22, 2003 meeting. It was not an easy decision to make. The concerns of the medical doctors were weighed vis-à-vis the dentists,” Nieto said.
Nieto added that the medical doctors’ service to medical patients in the hospital is larger in scope or content than that of the dentists.
“They are exposed to risk of being brought to court for malpractice, real or imagined even by medical patients. Almost all patients go to a hospital for medical treatment of ailments rather than tooth extractions,” she further explained.
At least nine government dentists in Pampanga earlier sought the DOH’s opinion on the implementation of Administrative Order (AO) 42, s. 2001 dated Aug. 2, 2001.
AO 42 series of 2001 has for its subject “Guidelines for Sourcing, Pooling and Distribution of Medicare Common Fund in Department of Health (DOH) Hospitals.”
The purpose clause of the order states, “For the proper implementation of Item N, Section 52, Rule VIII of the Implementing Rules and Regulation of Republic Act 7875 entitled National Insurance Act of 1995.
The National Insurance Act provides (among others) that “professional fees for services rendered by salaried public health service providers may be retained by the health care institution in which services are rendered for pooling and distribution among health personnel. The manner of distributing the professional fees is left to the discretion of the health care institution.”
The dentists claimed that Santos and the chiefs of hospitals in Pampanga have allegedly erred in implementing the order as their Philhealth share was cut from 100 percent to 25 percent lesser than that received by medical doctors.
They claimed AO No. 42 provided that: “(2) All hospital workers, whether Medical (Doctor) or Non-Medical (non-doctors) are entitled to a share from the common fund including those attending seminars/workshops, conferences and/or lecturers, and in-service training as covered by corresponding Department Orders and/or Hospitals Orders...”
It further said “(3) For the purpose of grouping the hospital staff, they are classified into Non-Medical personnel. The DENTIST is included in the medical group...” and “(4) The common fund shall be divided as follows: 50% for medical professionals and 50% for non-medical personnel, after payment for the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) Accreditation Fee of Medical Staff.”
But the DOH regional office said the discretion on the distribution of the common fund still falls to the hands of the health care institution involved.
“This office agrees with the contention of the chiefs of the different district hospitals in Pampanga. We do not see or perceive any abuse in their exercise of discretion in the observation and implementation of AO 42, which would amount to lack of jurisdiction. The purpose clause as prefaced in the order is very clear. The manner of distributing professional fees is left to the discretion of the health care institution,”
Nieto explained.
However, she said the DOH’s recent commentary is “not controlling.”
(February 7, 2004 issue)
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