THE bill establishing a national patient navigation and referral system which aims to strengthen the provision of health care delivery system was filed in the House of Representatives.

Quezon Representative Angelina “Helen” Tan, principal author of House Bill No. 9633 and Chairperson of the Committee on Health, said the bill seeks to institutionalize and broaden the scope of the One Hospital Command System through the establishment of the National Patient Navigation and Referral System (NPNRS) to navigate patients through different levels of the health system. The move will strengthen and expand the existing One Hospital Command Center (OHCC) by establishing a National Patient Navigation and Referral Center (NPNRC) that will provide a link with the Malasakit Centers across different health facilities to ensure financial risk protection, particularly for the indigent and financially incapacitated patients.

‘The NPNRS is designed to support, strengthen, and facilitate the provision of health services of primary care providers acting as the navigator, coordinator, and initial and continuing point of contact in the health care delivery system pursuant to Republic Act No. 11223, otherwise known as the “Universal Health Care Act”. This important legislation serves as a complementary measure to the UHC law’, Tan explained.

Health Undersecretary and COVID-19 treatment czar Leopoldo Vega has earlier said that the OHCC should serve as a “coordinated referral for all” nationwide as the country continue to grapple with the pandemic.

The Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), in coordination with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Tourism (DOT), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), officially launched the OHCC at the MMDA Arena in Makati City in 2020.

The One Hospital Command currently serves to facilitate a comprehensive and coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring effective and efficient health facility referral in Metro Manila to reduce the waiting time of patients by referring them to the appropriate health facility that could best provide for the level of care they require.

Once enacted into law, the NPNRS will support and strengthen the province-wide and city-wide health care provider networks throughout the country; and facilitate vertical and horizontal linkages and coordination among local government units, hospitals, infirmaries, other health facilities, telehealth service providers, local and national government agencies to maximize the use of limited health resources and improve access to quality health services for patients.

It will likewise serve as a guide in directing patients as well as a gatekeeper in ensuring rational and efficient use of existing health resources; interconnect and facilitate communication among hospitals, infirmaries, other health facilities, telehealth service providers, local and national government agencies to improve access to quality health services for patients; and implement patient navigation services and referral mechanisms that will assist patients to identify and reach the appropriate health facility and receive quality health service in a timely manner and consistent with the role of primary care providers in the health systems gatekeeping mechanism.

The bill is set to bolster OHCC’s ongoing efforts to facilitate medical transport and patient pick-up arrangements, provide health system capacity data analytics and risk communications, and optimize the use of critical care services of every hospital not only in Metro Manilla but in the entire country through the establishment of the Regional Patient Navigation and Referral Units (RPNRUs) which will serve as the implementing arm of the NPNRC in all regions to improve access to healthcare.

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