House panel OKs expanded OHCC
THE House committee on health chaired by Quezon Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan has approved a bill seeking to strengthen and expand the existing One Hospital Command Center (OHCC).
Tan, principal author if the measure, underscored the importance of OHCC in facilitating a comprehensive and coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring effective and efficient health facility referral in Metro Manila.
She welcomed the approval, which is urgently necessary to bridge the current fragmented health system in terms of service delivery across the spectrum of care by gatekeeping and navigating patients.
Once enacted into law, the proposed “National Patient Navigation and Referral System Act” will institutionalize and broaden the scope of the One Hospital Command System to become the National Patient Navigation and Referral System (NPNRS).
Its implementing arm, the National Patient Navigation and Referral Center (NPNRC) and the Regional Patient Navigation and Referral Centers (RPNRC) will expand its scope to navigate patients through the different levels of health system to reach and access appropriate health facilities, according to the bill.
Tan said the NPNRC will also link with the Malasakit Centers across different health facilities to ensure financial risk protection particularly for the indigent and financially incapacitated patients.
“With its institutionalization, the NPNRS is geared to re-define and reform the nature of the health delivery system of the Philippines to become more responsive and towards greater equity, accessibility, and quality,” Tan explained.
Undersecretary Leopoldo J. Vega of the Department of Health (DoH) supported the approval of the measure.
“The NPNRS will serve as a bridge between healthcare facilities and the patients, supporting them to gain early access to the health services for better outcomes. The connectivity provided will be a breakthrough in the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC),” he said.
The House committee on health has also approved House Bill (HB) No. 9354, authored by Tan, Quezon City 6th District Representative Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte, and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, which seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) No. 11525, otherwise known as the “COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021”, by including duly registered dentists and licensed medical technologists who have received appropriate training from the DoH as additional vaccinators beside licensed pharmacists and registered midwives.
The panel has likewise tackled a bill by Quimbo and Rep. Mario Vittorio “Marvey” Mariño for the creation of a Health Economics Unit under the DoH to enable the government to continuously build its capacity for evidence-based policy making for the health sector. A technical working group (TWG) was created to further study the proposal.
