To further boost citizen's access to primary care services, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) recently renewed its call to all Local Government Units (LGUs) and qualified private health clinics nationwide to be accredited providers of its Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama or the PhilHealth Konsulta Package.
The Konsulta Package has been expanded to include targeted health risk screening and assessment, initial, and follow up consultations, selected laboratory tests, drugs and medicines as needed by the patients and as recommend by their primary care physician.
Laboratory and diagnostic examinations under the package include complete blood count with platelet count, urinalysis, fecalysis, sputum microscopy, fecal occult blood, Pap smear, lipid profile, fasting blood sugar, oral glucose tolerance test, electrocardiogram, creatinine and HbA1c. Likewise, a total of 21 drugs and medicines shall be made available such as anti-microbial, anti-asthma, antipyretics, anti-dyslipidemia, anti-diabetic, and anti-hypertensive medicines, including fluids and electrolytes, anti-thrombotic, and anti-histamines.
PhilHealth shall release annual capitation funds to accredited Konsulta Providers in tranches based on the number of registered members and their performance at a per capita rate of P500 in public facilities and P750 in private providers.
The application for Konsulta accreditation is open to non-hospital facilities such as rural health units, ambulatory surgical clinics and infirmaries. All outpatient departments of PhilHealth-accredited Level 1, 2, and 3, public and private hospitals are also encouraged to be accredited for the purpose.
Interested providers may submit their application and self-assessment tools to the Local Health Insurance Office nearest their facility. They must be compliant with the mandatory standards stated in PhilHealth Circular No. 2020-0021. Minimum requirements in terms of service capability include the conduct of preventive/screening service and health education, provision of required laboratory and radiologic services, and the dispensing of drugs and medicines.
As of Aug. 31, 2022, there are 877 accredited PhilHealth Konsulta providers nationwide. Intensified efforts are underway to accredit more providers to make this benefit accessible to as may Filipino as possible