The city stands to receive another capitation fund or advance payment from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) after posting an exceptional performance in implementing the Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama (Konsulta) program.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said he was informed of the good news by PhilHealth-Baguio Chief Social Insurance Officer Janet Palaez and her team in a coordination meeting on April 23.
Palaez said the city will receive P35 million or more than double of the P16M it received last December 2023 under the PhilHealth’s sandbox innovation program where the city was chosen as one of the first seven primary care provider networks (PCPNs) in the country that were granted advanced payments or frontloading of funds even before services have been rendered.
She said the city posted a 111 percent accomplishment exceeding its baseline of 60 percent of the target in the performance of its Konsulta tasks.
The city was able to dispense a total of P17,710,188 in terms of registration of members to the Konsulta program and provision of primary care as against the first capitation fund frontloaded to the city amounting to P15,976,000.
Palaez said PhilHealth will front load more funds for the city’s primary health care services in recognition of the city’s performance.
Magalong thanked PhilHealth for providing more capitation funds and for choosing the city as pioneer PCPN citing the program’s benefit for the city’s populace in view of the rising costs of medicines, laboratory and medical procedures in private hospitals.
He cited the efforts of the district health centers and the City Health Services Office in achieving the feat and thanked them for their diligence in keeping the city’s public health care system responsive to the needs of the constituents.
The Konsulta program is being implemented in 13 of the city’s 16 district health centers which had been issued licenses to operate as primary health care facilities by the Department of Health and as such have been accredited as Konsulta package provider by the PhilHealth, enabling them to render individual-based health services including initial and follow-up primary care consultations, health screening and assessment and access to selected diagnostic services and medicines.
These are the district health centers of Asin headed by Medical Officer RR Dela Cruz; Atab under Dr. Carla Tabin; Atok Trail under Dr. Kea Ville Malucon; City Camp under Dr. Nelson Hora; Engineers’ Hill under Dr. Helen Colewan; Irisan under Dr. Vanessa Fagcangan; Lucban under Dr. Natazha Grace Franco; Pacdal under Dr. Edna Tabooy; Pinsao under Dr. Elvira Belingon; Quirino Hill under Dr. Maria Alice Torres; Quezon Hill under Dr. Anna Marie Banta; Campo Filipino under Dr. Angelica Grace Tolito and Loakan District under Dr. Thelma Matbagan.
Aside from the 13 district health centers, the other health care facilities that were accredited to provide Konsulta package are the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Philippine Military Academy, and the Olympian Medical and Diagnostic Center. – Aileen P. Refuerzo
