State-led Philhealth offering three-year hospital accreditation

Hospitals may now avail themselves of a three-year accreditation from state-led Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) instead of undergoing a yearly process. A hospital that applies for accreditation shall determine its level of compliance with Philhealth Benchbook Standards by conducting a self-assessment of its organization, according to Philhealth Circular 50 series of 2009. “The benchbook [standards] foster the principles of continuous quality improvement and the use of clinical pathways in all health care organizations," Philhealth said. It addresses seven critical areas to improving quality care which include: patient rights and organizational ethics, patient care, leadership and management, human resource management, information management, safe practice and environment, improving performance, the state health insurer added. Philhealth’s circular provided hospitals with three accreditation options: a three-year “center of excellence" accreditation award, a two-year “center of quality" accreditation award and a one-year “center of safety" accreditation award. The center of excellence seal will be awarded to hospitals with 100% compliance with “core indicators" and at least 90% compliance with patient rights and organizational ethics, patient care, safe practice and environment, leadership management, human resource management, information management, improving performance. The center of quality award will be given to hospitals with 100% compliance with core indicators and at least 75% compliance with standards on patient rights and organizational ethics, patient care, safe practice and environment, leadership management, human resource management, information management. The center of safety award will be given to hospitals with 100% compliance with core indicators and at least 60 % compliance with patient rights and organizational ethics, patient care, safe practice and environment, the circular said. The state health insurer’s accreditation committee will evaluate the application for accreditation within 30 days after its filing, Philhealth President Rey B. Aquino said in the circular. Philhealth will monitor activities of hospitals to improve and sustain performance, he said. Elmer Q. Pedregosa, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAP) vice-president for the Visayas, said the circular “might be a problem for small hospitals that may not cope with the requirements due to limited funding." PHAP, a group of 600 private hospitals, counts St. Luke’s Medical Center and Makati Medical Center among its members. There are about 1,558 Philhealth-accredited hospitals nationwide, data from the state health insurer showed. -- Adriel M. Paglinawan, BusinessWorld