PNoy to seek US accreditation for PHL hospitals

[Terpe]

President Benigno Aquino III intends to seek US accreditation for Philippine hospitals so Americans can use their medical insurance in paying for medical services in the Philippines.

Aquino is scheduled to meet with US President Barack Obama next June. “You can count on my requesting him again for a consideration of accrediting more of our facilities,” Aquino said in an open forum Thursday with the joint foreign chambers of commerce and other leaders of the business sector.

The President told the forum he discussed with “the highest levels of the US government,” including congressmen and US senators who recently visited the Philippines, how constraints posed by US law on accrediting Philippine hospitals may be resolved.

“There are invitations to talk with them again when we visit the United States of America, so I will be sure to request for that liberalizing of the facilities for the retirees,” he added.

Some American retirees from Guam were authorized to seek medical treatment in the Philippines, Aquino noted. “But we want to expand that,” he said

Source:-
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story...-phl-hospitals

[Doc Alan]

Several Philippines hospitals already have accreditation by US - based Joint Commission International ( JCI ), including Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City, Makati Medical Center, St Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City, and The Medical City in Pasig City. JCI is one of several agencies certifying hospitals meeting international standards of medical care. Such accreditation certainly helps medical tourism, by reaching world class standards of patient care and medical practice. There is growing interest in international healthcare accreditation and medical tourism. Since a sixth of the US population is uninsured some are looking outside their country for affordable healthcare, and other services like cosmetic surgery.
In the UK the NHS provides a comprehensive service, which is well monitored for quality by various bodies, depending in part on where you live. "Reforms", supposedly improving quality and allowing more privatisation, resulting from the Healthcare Bill in England, now seem likely to go ahead by next year. About 1/10 of us have private health insurance, and the PIP breast implant scandal has shown the problems arising if insurance is inadequate. Private providers must be monitored and insured just as are NHS providers.
President Aquino may well be altruistically motivated in seeking ( more ) US accreditation, thus improving standards in top Philippines hospitals. However, this is a country where basic healthcare as well as tertiary care for the majority of filipinos are inadequate - 6/10 filipinos who become ill die without ever seeing a doctor. Spending less than 1% of GDP on health is not enough, and the country should strive harder for a universal healthcare system modelled on our own. On every criterion - life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality, frequency of illness like tuberculosis for example - there's room for improvement. But every one of these criteria shows a range - from similarity to our own in high income groups, to much worse in the majority on low incomes.
The Philippines produces some of the world's best doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. It's to be hoped the President is paying attention to improving his country's dysfunctional health workforce structure, before his meeting in June with President Obama - who has other preoccupations this year.

[Terpe]

Another well written, interesting and relevant post Doc
Thanks

[Doc Alan]

Another well written, interesting and relevant post Doc

Thanks in return Terpe, glad you appreciated it .

[joebloggs]

i attended my misses medical board exam ceremony, one speaker was a filipina business woman who was successful in the phils and the states, basically she was telling everyone they should stay and work in the phils and not leave to work for better pay in other countires, not so easy when your parents have struggled and got in debt to get you thru uni, and easy for her to say when she made much of her money in the states