Surgeons, HMOs sign agreement

The Philippine College of Surgeons (PCS) and the Association of Health Maintenance Organizations of the Philippines, Inc. (AHMOPI), the national trade association of the country’s health maintenance organizations (HMOs), signed recently a memorandum of agreement involving an adjustment in out-patient professional fees.

The MOA is basically the same as the old agreement except for some aimed at making quality healthcare accessible to the larger number of Filipinos.

The PCS-AHMOPI liaison committee is tasked with addressing the common concerns in order to arrive at a mutually-beneficial relationships.

Although the new agreement may seem limited in scope, the committee hopes to address other concerns as they arise.

The addendum to the memorandum of agreement will form part of the agreement between AHMOPI and the PCS and its affiliated societies for an urgent need to agree on certain issues on the provision on the surgical specialty care to HMO patients that affect them.

The addendum to the agreement pegs the consultation fees of primary care doctors regardless of specialty and for secondary and tertiary who are fellows and diplomats of the PCS and/or its affiliated component societies.

Primary care doctors are those who provide initial care including assessment and medical interventions for HMO patients seeking healthcare services. In cases that are not within the scope of primary doctors’ competencies, patients are to be referred to appropriate specialists.