DOHA: Financing of primary health care centres may see a major change with implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme and privately operated health centres will be allowed to compete with the state-backed facilities, says the just- released annual report of the Primary Health care Corporation (PHCC).
“For the next two years we expect the organisation’s budget requirements to continue to be funded by the government, but starting from the year 2015–2016 this mechanism may be changed as a result of the health insurance system implementation,” said the 2013-2014 report.
From 2015-2016, the government funding may be limited to manpower and operations and capital expenditures may have to be funded through alternative sources.
“Within the framework of the Health Insurance system, privately operated health care centres will be allowed to operate and will compete directly with PHCC. It is not known how competition will impact PHCC financially,” said the report.
There is a pilot programme to have two health centres privately managed by internationally known providers. The SCH had earlier said that new health centres being constructed exclusively for labourers will be operated by private firms.
“The possible changes in the budget funding scenario and the possibility of having direct competition in health care services may provide the opportunity to focus on efficiency and cost savings to make the organisation more effective in meeting its objectives,” said the report.
However, budgetary allocations for primary health centres are expected to increase by 130 percent in three years, from the current 1.5bn to 3.5bn in 2015-2016, according to the report.
The report highlights PHCC’s achievements over the past one year and the ongoing and future projects.
There is a plan for commissioning 19 new health centres in the next three years starting with six health centres (Al Karaana, Al Ghuwairia, Umm Salal, Al Roda, Al Nuam and Al Muntazah) which will be completed next year.
Starting with Al Daayen health centre in April this year, an appointment system has been implemented with an average 12 -15 minutes consultation time. Dental and specialist clinics at all 21 health centres have been set up.
By the end of this year, there will be home care services in place for everyone in Qatar meeting the eligibility criteria.
PHCC is in the process of developing a Patient Helpline. As an interim measure a Central Operator service for general inquiries has been implemented, which will eventually be used for appointment. The call centre will evolve into Patient Helpline.
When this project is implemented, patients will be able to access advice, information and treatment through a dedicated telephone number that will be staffed by experts.
Al Gharafa health centre was used as a pilot site to review the flow of patients within health centres, identify good practice and highlight areas for improvement.
A Front Office Improvement Project aims to improve patient flow, enhancing the roles of staff, improve workflow, registration levels, access to and use of appointments, productivity and staff and patient satisfaction.
PHCC is collaborating with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) to provide each patient in Qatar with a personal Electronic Medical Record (EMR) supported by Clinical Information Systems (CIS).
CIS will improve the quality of care by reducing medicines administration errors, mis-recording of vital signs, symptoms, and diagnosis, missing important information, and repeated unnecessary tests.
During 2013-14, PHCC established a patient consultative council.
The first pilot of Patient Consultative Council was completed at Al Rayaan health centre. In the coming years PHCC would carry out an annual patient experience survey which will form part of the annual patient satisfaction survey via its “Hayyak” customer service programme.
The Peninsula
