Hospitals ‘strictly prohibited’ from charging for donated PPE use

Hospitals ‘strictly prohibited’ from charging for donated PPE use By Ma. Teresa Montemayor

Healthcare facilities are strictly prohibited from charging patients for the use of donated personal protective equipment (PPE), a health official said Monday.

In a virtual media forum, department memorandum and Department of Health (DOH) the allowable amount to recover Undersecretary Maria Rosario administrative costs on PPE is to be Vergeire clarified that aside from 30 percent of the total cost,” she the donated PPE, pieces of hospitaladded. acquired PPE may be charged to patients during the Covid-19 health Vergeire noted that there are emergency response period as per three variables considered in the Department Memorandum 2020- 0269. costing of PPE -- patient’s room accommodation, PPE for the patient “We need to consider these PPEs, talagang pinagkakagastusan ito (facilities spend on them), and the visitors, and the number of the patient’s healthcare worker per shift. especially from the private sector,” Vergeire. “First room accommodation, if it’s ward, separate isolation room, However, patients can not or intensive care units because we be charged for the use of PPE that know different rooms in the hospital have been donated to healthcare have different PPE use. For example facilities -- both public and private. in ICU, direct care to the patient “It is strictly prohibited to charge on who is severe and critical, you have PPEs donated to them, so we have higher (more) use of PPE unlike when that inventory of donated PPEs in a patient is in a ward,” she said. these facilities,” Vergeire said. To keep healthcare facilities “This Department Memorandum from overcharging patients on the says (that) all health facilities must use of PPE, Vergeire said the DOH has follow the cost and rate-setting asked its regional offices to monitor guidelines provided for in this PPE costs nationwide. (PNA) 58 | Sept. 26 - Oct. 02, 2020