Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte (Facebook)

A second-term congressman wants to institutionalize the pandemic-era patient navigation and referral system to maintain and further expand the linkages among healthcare providers throughout the country.

For this purpose, Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte penned and filed House Bill (HB) No.7574, which sought to establish the National Patient Navigation and Referral System (NPNRS).

“The One Hospital Command, which was later called the National Patient Navigation and Referral Center (NPNRC), was used during the pandemic mainly as a means to quickly refer Covid-19 patients to available nearby hospitals and healthcare facilities. This should be improved and expanded into a nationwide network and given sufficient funding to be an effective component of our Universal Health Care (UHC) program,” Duterte said.

Benguet lone district Rep. Eric Yap and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep, Edvic Yap. are Duterte's co-authors.

The NPNRS will interconnect and facilitate communication among the local government units (LGUs), local and national government agencies, hospitals, infirmaries, telehealth service providers and other health facilities.

Its primary goal is to  ensure the efficient use of the country’s scarce health resources by assisting all types of patients in accessing health care facilities appropriate to their medical needs.

“Institutionalizing a patient navigation and referral system, which is a type of service delivery network, will ensure the continuing provision of quality care through the combination of capacities of individual health service delivery points into a unified delivery system,” the bill’s authors said.

The NPNRS will also include patient navigation and referral services to the Malasakit Centers and other government and non-government organizations (NGOs) to help indigent patients needing financial assistance for medical expenses beyond what is covered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

HB No.7574 makes the existing NPNRC the implementing arm of  the NPNRS.

The NPNRC will provide, among others, patient navigation assistance services, facilitate coordination and referral within or across health care provider networks, conduct data analytics to ensure efficient utilization of health services, and improve access to healthcare in alignment with the UHC Act.

Under the bill, the NPNRC shall coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for connectivity support.

“Now that the public health emergency due to Covid-19 has been lifted, the NPNRC can continue to function as a unit under the Department of Health (DOH) to cater to all types of patients to help them gain access to affordable medical care,” Duterte said.

“Let’s put to  good use the lessons we have learned from the pandemic. Institutionalizing the patient navigation and referral system is one of them,” added the former deputy speaker.