By Allen Estabillo/Philippine News Agency
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in Region 12 (Soccksargen) is set to launch a review of the operation of dialysis centers in the region, in the wake of the discovery of alleged “ghost” patients and treatments in some areas in the country.
Dr. Antoniette Ladio, PhilHealth-12 health care delivery and management services division chief, said Monday the monitoring activity on the existing 20 private and government-run dialysis centers in the region next month is part of the annual accreditation process.
“We will look into their compliance to the accreditation requirements and other related documents,” Ladio told reporters.
Ladio said they have not received any report so far regarding the existence of “ghost” patients and treatments in the region.
Nevertheless, he said they have stepped up monitoring to ensure that the alleged anomaly, which involved a dialysis center in Quezon City, will not happen in the area.
He said the agency has been conducting quarterly stakeholders’ forum to engage with various sectors, especially in uncovering possible irregularities.
Ladio noted that PhilHealth-12 has been carefully scrutinizing case claims filed by local hospitals through the pre-medical review and evaluation.
The agency checks if the diagnosis of the patients were accurate based on the recorded number of days of confinement, the medicines provided as well as the management of the case, he said.
If they find suspicious claims, he said they immediately refer them to their membership and legal services unit.
Nevin Hallegado, PhilHealth-12 membership section head, said they would need the help of the public in uncovering possible anomalies regarding dialysis treatments.
He cited the case of WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center Corp. in Quezon City, which was discovered through several “whistle blowers.”
Hallegado admitted that it is difficult for them to verify whether a patient is still alive or not due to the lack of access to such documents.
These data, he said, should be provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority and Local Civil Registrars (LCRs).
The official added they had requested the LCRs in the region to furnish them with regular update reports but only one, Surallah town in South Cotabato, has responded.
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