CUTTING the red tape and having more efficient healthcare services shall be top priorities for newly-designated Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho.
Speaking in her introductory press conference, Ho said they will be looking to cut the red tape, particularly in the agency's frontline services.
"That can mean as simple as licensing and accreditation processes of PhilHealth and how we can make everything seamless," Ho said.
She said she is also looking at transferring all the 75 provided drugs and medicines to members to the accredited Guaranteed and Accessible Medications for Outpatient Treatment (Gamot) facilities.
"The next adjustment is really the 21 medicines that are in Yaman ng Kalusugan Program (Yakap) clinics will go with the 54 currently in our Gamot facilities. A lot of people are waiting for that," said Ho.
Asked if she agrees with calls to provide different benefits between direct and indirect PhilHealth members, Ho said they would rather focus on the efficiency of their system.
"Overall, we need to make sure that we are efficiently providing the benefits to the people. It has to be easy for people to avail them," said Ho.
Earlier, Ho was appointed as PhilHealth president and CEO to succeed Dr. Edwin Mercado, who was tapped as the new Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH).
Transparency
Ho said the agency under her leadership is committed to promoting transparency to both stakeholders as well as to the general public.
"We are very much committed to transparency. Whatever is in our books will always be transparent to the Filipino people," said Ho.
She said this will be done by engaging in more proactive communication.
"We are also getting external, third party experts to look at our finances or actuarial projections," added Ho.
The PhilHealth chief said they will also endeavor to stick to the rules and regulations in terms of the exercise of their mandate.
"We will support any oversight mechanism that is going to be put forward. We are confident that we will be able to show what needs to be shown to the public," said Ho.
To recall, PhilHealth has been a perennial respondent in cases filed before the Office of the Ombudsman as well as subjects of numerous controversies. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)
