Provincial ordinance signed on medicine consignment

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III has signed the medicine consignment ordinance as part of his administration’s aim to strengthen the services of hospitals in the province.

Provincial Ordinance No. 2014-11 or the “Cebu Medicine Consignment System” guarantees that all 16 hospitals under the provincial government would always have enough supply of medicine.

Dr. Olivia Dandan, chief of hospital of the Cebu Provincial Hospital-Carcar City, disclosed that with the ordinance, doctors are now required to submit a list of medicine that they need to use.

According to the statement released by the provincial Capitol on the ordinance, the list would be made as basis as to what kind of medicine and drug supplies would be purchased by the Bids and Awards Committee in accredited companies.

The ordinance also covers the consignment of medical equipment.

“The doctors should be the one to identify the medicines because they are the ones who will issue drug prescriptions to their patients,” said Dandan.

The consignment system is a “method of assuring availability of stocks wherein a consignor places its goods with the Provincial Health Office and/or the pharmacies of the Provincial and/or District Hospitals for sale, and the former being paid by the latter for only the actual quantity consumed using the money generated from the sale of the consigned goods within the agreed period of time.”

Dandan, in a statement to the Provincial Information Office, said that the problem before was that they don’t have adequate supply of medicine because of the long procurement procedure in the government.

But with the consignment system, she said the medicine would not reach its expiry dates because the consignors would be easily able to ship out the drugs.

An initial P15 million has been set aside for the Medicine Consignment Fund.  The proceeds of the sale of the consigned items will also go to the consignment fund.

In its general guidelines, the ordinance states that “for the indigent buyers of consigned items, who are entitled to Philhealth benefits, a maximum of 70 percent of the Philhealth benefits shall be used or charged for payment for the Consigned items.”

“If the amount payable for consigned items is less than 70 percent of Philhealth benefits, only the amount payable for the consigned items shall be paid to the Medicine Consignment Fund, and the balance shall form part of the income for the particular Provincial and/or District Hospital,” the ordinance reads.

As for paying patients who are PhilHealth members, their billings shall be satisfied first. The balance from their PhilHealth benefits can be used to pay for consigned items and if the balance is not sufficient, the excess amount shall be charged to their account.  — AJ de la Torre-Orong (FREEMAN)