Executive summary: Terminal report of PCSO chair Margarita P. Juico (July 2010 –May 9, 2014)

Focus on 3 perspectives

Out of the many difficult challenges we faced at PCSO when we assumed office, allow me to focus on three key areas:

1. Financial Perspective – restore and improve the financial viability of PCSO: all COA reports clearly showed a badly-mangled organization.

2. Service/Customer Perspective — comply with PCSO’s main mandate of serving the health needs of the poor: to achieve this basic mandate, we however had to financially and organizationally rehabilitate PCSO.

3. People/Organizational Perspective – create a skilled and competent organization imbued with core values like integrity: we realized that having the best processes and technology will be to no avail if those called on to use them do not have the skill and motivation to do so and realize that the leadership does not walk its talk, so to speak.

I. “Financial Viability Perspective:  PCSO not only increased revenues but also reduced costs through imaginative and creative processes and by simply being more transparent and by exercising fiscal discipline.  The end result of all these initiatives is a cash surplus, as of May 9, 2014 of P16.6 billion with payables of less than a billion left behind for succeeding PCSO administrations.  We assumed office and were confronted with a cash deficit of over P4 billion (cash of over P3 billion and payables of over P7 billion).  We are therefore leaving behind a net cash surplus of P15.6 billion which translates to a turnaround of almost P20 billion.”

II. Customer/Service Perspective or Serving the Poor: PCSO’s service orientation was unmistakably seen and felt. Financial viability and transparent processes were introduced and internalized to serve the poor better.

a. The flagship Individual Medical Assistance Program (IMAP) increased the number of beneficiaries it served from 90,523 in 2011 to 163,722 in 2013, an 80% increase (or nearly double).

b. Ambulances given to municipalities showed, for the first time, specific preference for the poorest municipalities regardless of political affiliation. Prior to our time, no distinction was made between the richer first to third class municipalities and the poorer fourth to sixth municipalities. We accomplished our objective of equity through the use, for the first time, of poverty mapping. Under our management, many more ambulances were given to the fourth and sixth class municipalities. Under the new policy, the latter receive 100% subsidy whereas the richer municipalities receive only 60% subsidy.

c. To try to touch the poor in the far-flung municipalities, we enhanced PCSO’s reach by increasing individual assistance from P20,000 to P50,000. PCSO branches correspondingly increased from 25 in 2011 to 39 in the first quarter of 2014. All assistance less than P50,000 was decentralized to these branches so that the indigents did not have to suffer the inconvenience of long trips to PCSO’s Manila head office.

d. Waiting time for the much-sought after PCSO guaranty letter (GL) was improved ten-fold so that the poor could get quicker action for their needs. From a waiting time of 10 to 90 days, we cut the processing and waiting time by 90 percent, to only one to nine days.

I. A Strong, Competent Merit-Based Organization Imbued with Core Values Like Integrity

a. PCSO undertook the pioneering action of serious and rigorous strategic planning with a vision and mission owned and lived out by every PCSO official and employee.

b. Prudence was exercised in the use of financial resources. The PR budget was reduced from P.900 billion (almost a billion) to P250 million without any serious disruption in the attainment of our objectives. Moreover, we obtained, through hard-nosed negotiations, a 20% discount from the lowest-priced formulary for medicines. Prices for senior citizens were reduced by an additional 20%. We reduced the notorious intelligence fund from P142 million to P10 million.

c. Corruption was reduced by strictly following the COA recommendations based on a review of past management’s practices. Co-mingling funds to conceal and camouflage malversation was stopped. Computerization was initiated to eliminate unscrupulous and arbitrary human intervention and to fast-track the process

d. Effectiveness and efficiency were achieved through desirable management practices aided by documented manuals on policy, procedures, work flow and employee practices.

The above-listed achievements are just mere indications of the many more substantive accomplishments of the current PCSO Board under my leadership. To reiterate, these areas of improvement are financial viability achieved through increase in revenues and reduction in costs, better service and clearer emphasis on equity and helping indigent beneficiaries, and rebuilding the organization with imbued integrity and competence. All these can be built upon by succeeding administrations.

Much of these achievements were the result of major, bold and painful institutional reforms pioneered by current management. Some of these key reforms are in the attached list of Board-approved policies.