M4.3

• Licensing of Other Health Facilities.

  Other types of health facilities are similarly covered by the rules and regulations for licensing and registration required by the DOH. Included are:

  • primary care facilities,
  • Custodial care facilities
• Licensing of Other Health Facilities.

  • Included are primary care facilities, which are first – contact health facilities that offer basic services, including emergency services and provision for normal deliveries such as those with inpatient beds like infirmaries and birthing homes.
  • Custodial care facilities providing long - term care such as psychiatric care facilities, substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation centers, sanitaria and nursing homes are also required to acquire licenses.
• Licensing of Other Health Facilities.

  • Specific regulatory standards and licensing procedures are also applied to specialized outpatient facilities such as dialysis clinics, ambulatory surgical clinics, in vitro fertilization centers, stem cell facilities, oncology clinics, medical facilities for overseas workers and seafarers, and physical medicine and rehabilitation centers.
• Licensing of Other Health Facilities.

  • Under the law, licenses of hospitals, laboratories, infirmaries, and specialized outpatient facilities are valid for a period of 1 year. The license may be suspended or revoked at any time for violation of specific rules, regulations and standards set by the DOH.
• HARMONIZATION OF LICENSURE AND ACCREDITATION SYSTEMS FOR HOSPITALS.

  • To make health regulation more rational and client – responsive and to reduce transaction costs for health providers, the DOH issued a series of Administrative Orders in 2007 to harmonize and streamline its licensing systems and processes.
• HARMONIZATION OF LICENSURE AND ACCREDITATION SYSTEMS FOR HOSPITALS.

  • Prior to 2007, the grant of an LTO to a hospitals required the acquisition of separate licenses issued by different bureaus in the DOH responsible for regulating ancillary services such as clinical laboratory, X-ray facility, pharmacy or blood bank services. In this set – up, a hospital has to transact with different regulatory offices in the DOH.
• TWO MAJOR POLICIES WERE INITIATED

  • Second strategy was the decentralization of certain licensing processes, such as renewal of licenses for Level 1 and Level 2 hospitals and the grant of permits to construct to the DOH Regional Offices.
  • Under this set – up the regional offices also organized a One- Stop Shop Unit and a One- Stop Shop Secretariat.
• TWO MAJOR POLICIES WERE INITIATED

  • First was the establishment of the One-Stop Shop Licensure System for Hospitals, wherein a unified procedure and a single LTO would be issued to hospitals.
  • The One – Stop Shop Unit, under the leadership of the HFSRB, was created to be the sole transacting unit with hospitals, and the One – Stop Shop Secretariat composed of technical staff from different regulatory bureaus of the DOH was organized to run the day – to – day operations of the Unit.
• MAJOR POLICIES WERE INITIATED

  • In 2011, the Secretary of Health issued Administrative Order No. 2011 – 0020 providing for the automatic accreditation by Phil – health of all hospitals duly licensed by the DOH.
  • This was later amended in 2012 to specify that the HFSRB and DOH regional offices shall stipulate in the issuance of LTOs all the services that a health facility is capable of providing and such hospitals shall be deemed qualified for accreditation by Phil – Health without the need for pre - accreditation processes.
• MAJOR POLICIES WERE INITIATED

  • Phil – Health reimbursements to these health facilities are now based on their service capability (Office of the Secretary, 2015a).
  • The policy further streamlined the licensing and accreditation processes between the DOH regulatory bureaus and Phil – Health.