Endorsement to Philhealth Z-benefit package of the regional hospital as regional heart center ripples in impact. The Southern Philippines Medical Center becomes a model for this. Having the earliest maturity in infrastructure and personnel with 5 Pediatric Cardiologists, early accreditation was endorsed by PHC by end of December 2013, being the second HCI accredited after PHC (February 2013). Free cardiac surgery was accepted with gratitude to doctors and Philhealth Z- benefit, as with the 355 cases done in children at the Philippine Heart Center.

At the Philippine Heart Center, Z-benefit package significantly contributed to the increase in number of patients. With the PGS 42% hospital scoreboards aligned to this Breakthrough. By June 2015, 94.5% of the target was attained with 18,900 patients. Z-benefit packages for Heart surgery increased Total Surgery cases to 1,564 by June 2015 with 884 adult and 364 for Pediatric CV surgeries. There was a 186M increase in revenue with 15.2% increase in revenue. Gross Revenue from Government sources increased by 110%. Philhealth reimbursements increased from 4.3% to 32%, and No Balance Billing from all other packages increased to 90%, with 42.8% service patients operated.

This significant breakthrough result at the Philippine Heart Center is intended to be duplicated in the regional hospitals to sustain the program all over the country. As the Task force for Z- Benefit Z cardiac surgery, PHC will continuously monitor outcomes.

Figure 8: Status of IGG Breakthrough Goal

To date, multiple open heart surgery has been performed in ALL 5 identified regional heart centers, and interventional catheter-based device closures in Bicol, Cebu and Davao. The training of cardiovascular specialists for all these 5 centers have been prioritized so that candidates for highly competitive training slots in Cardiovascular Surgery, Adult and Pediatric cardiology, perfusion and critical care nursing are given first pass for their requested programs provided they expressly commit to return to their regional centers.

Full support for pilot procedures is extended to all regional centers with the dispatch of multiple heart teams capable of simultaneous cases, including complete heart equipment and supplies for the recent Region I open heart surgery mission.

Table 5: Summary of Breakthrough Outcomes