Issue Brief, or any data relevant to the bill (in as much as galing sa DOH ang bill)

In the advent of the pandemic, demands for temporary treatment and monitoring facilities
(TTMF) and hospitals increase resulting to difficulty in referring and transferring patients. To
alleviate the burden in patient referral and navigation, the Department of Health issued
Department Order No. 2020-0653 to establish a One Hospital Command System to facilitate
coordination between health facilities and health care provider networks (HCPNs) as well as to
streamline the referral and transfer of COVID-19 cases. The OHCS shall serve as the Interim
National Referral System, as mandated by Section 7 of Republic Act No. 11494, or the
“Bayanihan to Recover As One Act”, and shall subsist despite the expiration of the said Act.
It is a system to interconnect the services of hospitals and other health facilities, such as
TTMFs, hotel isolation facilities and DOH licensed COVID-19 testing laboratories. It likewise
covers health care provider networks (HCPNs) for COVID-19 response facilities and local
government units (LGUs). Health care providers from the said facilities and even patients or
caregivers may call the One Hospital Command Operation Center (OHCC) to facilitate their need
for referral. The OHCC will then identify the most appropriate facility for referral and ensure that
the patient is transferred and accepted to the referral facility.
Aside from catering COVID-19 cases, it has also extended its services to non-COVID
cases and commenced telemedicine services. DOH regional offices also opened the regional
counterparts of the OHCC.
The OHCS served as an effective solution to bridge the current fragmented health system
in terms of service delivery across the spectrum of care by gatekeeping and navigating patients. It
has facilitated the effective use of health resources by ensuring that facilities from primary,
intermediate, and tertiary levels of care are appropriately utilized and maximized by preventing
unnecessary self-referral to higher levels of care. The mechanism of OHCS is aligned with one of
the critical component of the UHC to ensure that patients are navigated properly to access the
appropriate care at the appropriate time and health facility. It is also aligned with the Malasakit
Centers Act which emphasizes the crucial role of patient navigation as a component of an
integrated people-centered health service delivery by ensuring that health services are responsive
to the needs of all Filipinos.
This bill seeks to institutionalize and broaden the scope of the One Hospital Command
System to become the National Patient Navigation and Referral System (NPNRS). Its
implementing arm, the National Patient Navigation and Referral Center (NPNRC) and the
Regional Patient Navigation and Referral Units (RPNRU) shall likewise expand its scope to
navigate patients through our health systems to reach and access appropriate health facilities.
Furthermore, it shall also link with the Malasakit Centers across different health facilities to
ensure financial risk protection particularly for the indigent and financially incapacitated patients.
With its institutionalization, the NPNRS is geared to re-define and reform the nature of the health
delivery system of the Philippines to become more responsive and towards greater equity,
accessibility, and quality.