Unilab Center for Health Policy (UCHP), a program under the Unilab Foundation (ULF), and the Philippine College of Emergency Medicine (PCEM) officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance healthcare accessibility and efficiency,
The partnership is the beginning of a concerted effort to formally establish the One Hospital Command Center and Patient Navigation System. Initially, the system will be developed for the Department of Health (DOH)-retained hospitals within the National Capital Region (NCR).
The initiative with PCEM stems from an ideation workshop that UCHP led in November last year, which involved various hospital heads and healthcare providers. PCEM’s extensive experience and expertise, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, make it a valuable partner for this priority initiative.
“This project will guide setting up a patient navigation system essential for providing safe and high-quality healthcare, especially considering our limited health resources and the opportunities healthcare informatics presents,” said Ruben “John” Basa, UCHP program director.
The enhanced patient navigation system would include real-time data utilization, centralization, strengthened coordination, and improved staff capabilities. It would ensure that Filipinos receive timely access to necessary medical services. The initial step is developing a comprehensive roadmap aligned with the DOH guidelines and the Universal Health Care Integration System (UHCIS).
“Emergency care is also part of UHC. The missing link is the system for implementation for better healthcare coordination; our current system needs to be improved in terms of interoperability. We need a solid national framework to refer patients to appropriate healthcare facilities to prevent mortality and morbidity,” said Dr. Jeremy Cordero, president of the Philippine College of Emergency Medicine.
UCHP is a program of ULF that provides a platform for a collaborative and evidence-based policy laboratory in pursuit of the goals of Universal Health Care (UHC). It also demonstrates identified health service delivery models through pilot projects that are data-driven and grounded in expertise and experience.
Lawyer Jose Maria A. Ochave, Unilab Foundation’s executive director, said that, “While this collaboration will first cover DOH-retained hospitals, we see the DOH supporting this initiative of UCHP and PCEM to expand and cover LGU-maintained and even private hospitals in NCR. And when we are able to demonstrate it works, this can spread to other parts of the country.”
This collaboration underscores UCHP’s and PCEM’s shared commitment to drive health innovation and improve the delivery of healthcare services throughout the Philippines within the framework of universal healthcare.
