PhilHealth cites 2 Leyte hospitals as centers of excellence

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
September 24, 2011

TACLOBAN CITY  –  Two hospitals in Leyte were recently cited as Centers of Excellence by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in ceremonies held at the Crown Plaza in Quezon City.

PhilHealth identified the two Leyte hospitals as the Divine Word University Hospital (formerly St. Paul’s Hospital) and the OSPA- Farmers Medical Center.

The two hospitals in Leyte are among the 54 hospitals across the country, which were recognized by PhilHealth, Ms. Marimar Zabala, Information Officer of PhilHealth in Eastern Visayas informed.

The PhilHealth Center of Excellence awards is a fitting tribute to health care facilities that have made the cut where quality standards are concerned. It is granted to accredited hospitals that have met the stringent criteria articulated in the Benchbook which has become the standards for accreditation.

In particular, the health care facility is able to comply with quality standards in the areas of patients' rights, organizational ethics, patient care, safe practice and environment, leadership and management, human resource management, information management, and improving performance.

The efforts of partner hospitals are recognized to encourage them to continue with their best practices on clinical and quality assurance and aim for excellence in the delivery of health care.

The list is expected to expand once the other hospitals realize the benefits of being bestowed the highest accolade in the area of hospital accreditation in the country.

Aside from the prestige of being awarded the Center of Excellence, it is the fulfillment and the reward of every human resource of the facility who has worked hard to embody what quality assurance is to their system, PhilHealth stated.

Institutional Health Care Providers (IHCPs) who are awarded as Center of Excellence will be given three (3) years accreditation, but they will have to apply yearly to update their documentary requirements like DOH license without the annual survey.