Safety and Quality.
SEC. 27. Safety and Quality. - (a) PhilHealth shall establish a rating system under an incentive scheme to acknowledge and reward health facilities that provide better service quality, efficiency and equity: Provided, That PhilHealth shall recognize third party accreditation mechanisms and may use these as basis for granting incentives.
(b) The DOH shall institute a licensing and regulatory system for stand-alone health facilities, including those providing ambulatory and primary care services, and other modes of health service provision.
(c) The DOH shall set standards for clinical care through the development, appraisal, and use of clinical practice guidelines in cooperation with professional societies and the academe.
Affordability.
SEC. 28. Affordability. - (a) DOH-owned health care providers shall procure drugs and devices guided by price reference indices, following centrally negotiated prices, sell them following the prescribed maximum mark-ups, and submit to DOH a price list of all drugs and devices procured and sold by the health care provider.
(b) An independent price negotiation board, composed of representatives from the DOH, PhilHealth and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), among others, shall be constituted to negotiate prices on behalf of the DOH and PhilHealth, guided by certain parameters including new technology, innovator drugs, and sourced from a single supplier: Provided, That the negotiated price in the framework contract shall be applicable for all health care providers under DOH: Provided, further, That the price negotiation board shall adhere to the guidelines issued by the Government Procurement Policy Board.
(c) Health care providers and facilities shall be required to make readily accessible to the public and submit to DOH and PhilHealth, all pertinent, relevant, and up-to-date information regarding the prices of health services, and all goods and services being offered.
(d) Drug outlets shall be required at all times to carry the generic equivalent of all drugs in the Primary Care Formulary and shall be required to provide customers with a list of therapeutic
equivalents and their corresponding prices when fulfilling prescriptions or in any transaction.
(e) The DOH, PhilHealth, HMOs, life and non-life private health insurance (PHIs) shall develop standard policies and plans that complement the Program's benefit schedule: Provided, That a coordination mechanism between PhilHealth, PHIs and HMOs shall be set up to ensure that no benefits shall be unnecessarily dropped.
Equity.
SEC. 29. Equity. - (a) The DOH shall annually update its list of underserved areas, which shall be the basis for preferential licensing of health facilities and contracting of health services. The DOH shall develop the framework and guidelines to determine the appropriate bed capacity and number of health care professionals of public health facilities.
(b) The government shall guarantee that the distribution of health services and benefits provided for in this Act shall be equitable by prioritizing GIDAs in the provision of assistance and support.
(c) All government hospitals are required to operate not less than ninety percent (90%) of their bed capacity as basic or ward accommodation: Provided, That specialty hospitals are required to operate not less than seventy percent (70%) of their bed capacity as basic or ward accommodation: Provided, further, That private hospitals are required to operate not less than ten percent (10%) of their bed capacity as basic or ward accommodation: Provided, finally. That all government hospitals, specialty hospitals and private hospitals shall regularly submit a report on the allotment or percentage of their bed capacity to basic or ward accommodation to DOH, which shall issue the necessary guidelines for the immediate implementation of this provision.
