PB member pushes regulation of medical missions

Local

A MEMBER of the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) is pushing for the regulation of medical and surgical missions in the province.

Cebu 2nd District Board Member Stanley Caminero, a doctor who chairs the Committee on Health of the PB, invited medical experts, resource persons, and officials from the medical field during the July 13 regular session to get their insights needed in crafting a local law for the measure.

In Cebu province, various medical and surgical missions are conducted by different groups of doctors and medical experts in towns and cities.

Even the Cebu Provincial Government is conducting medical and surgical missions in the towns through Capitol-run hospitals in partnership with different hospitals and medical groups, Caminero noted.

During the plenary session, Caminero said having a local ordinance regarding medical missions provides a written guide for both the host local government unit (LGU) and the medical teams.

He noted that even with the best intentions of conducting these missions, there are unavoidable circumstances that may prompt beneficiaries to seek accountability.

"And yet, when the time comes that complications arise, some of these beneficiaries resort to legal action in order to seek accountability,” Caminero said.

In order “to put everything in its proper perspective and to be fair to the missionary teams”, medical stakeholders, and LGUs, and the PB’s health committee, will initiate conduct of getting a consensus and the expert and resource persons' enlightenment, opinion, and evidence-based manifestations or proclamations, Caminero said.

Caminero recalled an incident outside Cebu in 2022 wherein a patientdied after a two-legged mission.

The death was determined to be a hemorrhage following a surgical operation conducted by a certain medical group.

During the session, issues and concerns were also mentioned when it came to these activities.

One of these is the reported "patient farming", wherein some medical missions allegedly serve as a way to refer patients to specific hospitals for PhilHealth-covered procedures.

Mark Phua, a lawyer from the Cebu Medical Society, pointed to this as one of the problems that the board members can resolve through legislation.

Jenet Ann Advincula, Acting Regional Vice President of PhilHealth-7, confirmed that there are issues wherein the organizing facility that conducted a medical mission files claims for the services or procedures it conducted.

As a result, the state health insurer has set rules on offenses and administrative cases involving healthcare providers, members, and PhilHealth employees under the PhilHealth Rules on Administrative Cases (PROAC).

One prohibited practice under PROAC is recruitment, which refers to offering, soliciting, or receiving anything of value to obtain patients.

Board members also raised questions about non-Cebu-based and unlicensed medical doctors who join medical missions.

Medical personnel said there have been no reports of unlicensed medical professionals conducting surgical or medical missions in Cebu.

For local medical missions, there is no actual regulation.

However, if there is a request for a medical mission, the Department of Health will endorse it to the concerned LGU.

For international medical missions, the endorsement will be sent to the Bureau of International Health Cooperation (BHIC).

Caminero emphasized that having regulations on these medical missions will make it easier to conduct such activities, with the understanding that there is a single process to follow. He added that the regulations are intended to facilitate, not discourage, groups from conducting such missions.(MyTVCebu)