TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte — It takes trust in the capacity of the rural health units to deliver health services to tread the “referral pathways” and feel the benefits of the Patient Navigation and Referral Unit (PNRU).
For such a system to work well, it needs the support of the local government units (LGUs) and the cooperation of the public, said Dr. Meliza Carla T. Agoilo, deputy disaster risk reduction management for health (DRRMH) manager of Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) Emergency and Disaster Management Unit.
She pointed this out during her guesting over the Sayron Ta! Pakigsayod radio program of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) XI Davao del Norte, and explained the system in line with the Universal Health Care Act or Republic Act No. 11223.
The PNRU has been part of the DRMC operation since the Covid-19 pandemic, when the One Command Hospital System was established to run the National Patient Navigation and Referral System for Covid patients.
Found to have “efficiently and effectively” carried out such system, DRMC has been designated as the “Regional Patient Navigation and Referral Unit in the north” by the Department of Health Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD), serving as the “catch-basin” of patients from Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro, Davao Oriental, and even from areas beyond the borders of Davao Region.
To access health care services, through this referral system, patients are first taken care of at rural health units (RHUs), which will refer the patient to the government primary health care facility in case the RHU cannot handle the case.
Davao del Norte has District Hospitals in the Municipality of Kapalong and Carmen, and in the Island Garden City of Samal as level one hospitals to complete the referral documentation, including the transport to DRMC for cases needing tertiary level medical services.
Dr. Agoilo described this system of navigating patients as the “referral pathway” established to ease congestion at the tertiary apex government hospital.
“There will always be challenges, and we are informing the people that there is such a thing as ‘referral pathway’, nga dili kinahanglna nga moderitso sa taas nga ospita (they don’t need to go to the higher-level hospital) because our healthcare system is working. They just need pagsalig, mosalig sila sa atong (to trust, they have to trust our) healthcare system,” Dr. Agoilo said.
In a separate interview, Davao del Norte Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Alfredo Lacerona told PIA XI Davao del Norte that the provincial government had already established the DavNor Health Electronic Referral System (DHERS) that tracks patients of government health services from the barangay to the rural health units at the municipal and city levels to the primary health care units or the government district hospitals.
“The patient has the choice to be referred to a private hospital or a government hospital,” Dr. Lacerona said, emphasizing the readily available referral data provided through the system, and the proper coordination that cuts time to attend to the patient.
During the same query, Dr. Lacerona said the RHUs and the primary healthcare facilities of the government had already been made capable with facilities, provisions, and personnel following the standards of the Universal Health Care (UHC).
“They have been trained to operate under this referral system. We already have the manual, and we are enhancing it into a digital system, and making it even more efficient because the DRMC wants to departmentalize the system,” he said, meaning a medical case shall be referred directly to the concerned department of DRMC.
“Malayo ang narating natin (We have already gone far),” Dr. Agoilo said, referring to the LGU level of health care services. “Our healthcare system, especially this referral system, is really working. Kailangan lang ng trust and cooperation ng ating mga katawhan (It just needs the trust and cooperation of the people),” she said
To avoid tracking back the referral pathway, Dr. Agoilo urged the public to first call DRMC for guidance and refer to the nearest rural health units, which can ably assist the public in accessing government health services. PIA DAVAO