PCSO eyes links with Visayas, Mindanao hospitals for medical aid

MANILA — The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is eyeing partnerships with 23 hospitals in the Visayas and Mindanao to make its medical assistance services more accessible to the public.

The PCSO is  introducing  the “At Source ang Processing (Asap)” program, which establishes a help desk in partner hospitals to assist patients in their request for assistance under the PCSO’s flagship Individual Medical Assistance Program.

The initiative comes almost a year after it was introduced in 14 hospitals in the Metro.

PCSO Vice Chair and General Manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II said that  this program would provide a “more convenient, easy and speedy” way for the public to seek medical assistance as they need not go to the charity agency’s offices.

“Patients who require financial assistance for their hospitalization, dialysis, medicines, and other medical- and healthcare-related concerns may submit their applications for assistance at the desk instead of having to visit a PCSO office. This makes it more convenient and easier for them to submit their requests for help,” Rojas said in a statement on Sunday.

The PCSO desk will be manned by the hospital’s social worker, who is trained by the PCSO on request evaluation and recommendation, according to Rojas.

The hospitals, which will send representatives to  the dialogue with the PCSO, are located in Iloilo, Davao, Cebu, Capiz, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Leyte, Bohol, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental.

Rojas said that by establishing hospital-based help desks, they would reach more indigent patients. In 2015, he said that the PCSO released P4.26 billion for 105,000 beneficiaries. He noted that over the last six years, they increased the PCSO’s allotment for medical assistance from P4 million to P18 million daily.

“We hope we can count on the commitment of more partner hospitals across the country to join us in this program. With continued dialogue and cooperation, I believe the Asap program can do even better by being implemented nationwide, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao, and in the remote and underserved areas,” he said.  SFM/rga