By Jade Zaldivar
Health benefits offered by the national and local government are considered as contributory factors to the dropping cost of dialysis in the city.
The Philippine Society Nephrology-Mindanao Chapter (PSN-Mindanao) noted that in the city, dialysis patients can avail of dialysis at the rate of P500 per session. It used to cost not less than P1,000 some years back.
Dialysis is the process of removing impurities from the blood by filtering it through a membrane. This undertaken by patients suffering from advanced kidney problems. A patient would need around three dialysis sessions a week.
Kidneys play a vital function in the human body function. The kidney filters the blood and removes waste from it. Most importantly, kidneys control blood pressure and stimulation in producing red blood cells.
Ten years ago, dialysis centers in the entire Davao region could only be found in hospitals. There were only a total of 20 dialysis machines at the time.
Today, Davao City alone has more than a hundred dialysis machines in four freestanding or private dialysis centers and six hospitals, namely, Southerm Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), Davao Doctor’s Hospital, Brokenshire Hospital, San Pedro Hospital, Davao Medical School Foundation, and Limso Hospital.
PSN-Mindanao secretary Dr. Franklin Guillano said Davao City currently offers the lowest rates for dialysis in the entire country.
Guillano said contributing to this are benefits from Philhealth whose members can avail of lower dialysis cost rates by simply presenting their Philhealth cards to the dialysis center.
Based on the Manual of Surgical and other Proceedures, Philhealth covers the following procedures in accredited hospitals and freestanding dialysis centers: (1) Hemodialysis procedure; and (2) Dialysis procedure other than hemodialysis (e.g. peritoneal, hemofiltration).
Within a period of 90 days from first admission, if it is done in a tertiary level hospital, Philhealth members may avail themselves of a maximum coverage of P28,000 for drugs and medicines; P21,000 for X-ray, laboratory procedures and others; and P1,200 for the operating room fee. Coverage also extends to the professional fee of the doctor conducting the procedure.
Hospitalization and procedures for organ transplant for both members and their dependents are also covered by Philhealth. Both the donor and the recipient have to be active members or qualified dependents to be able to avail of this benefit. These are considered two separate claims and will be processed for reimbursement separately within the maximum allowable benefit for each procedure.
The Davao City government also offers discounts to dialysis patients through its Lingap Para sa Mahirap Program (Lingap). Patients can avail of one free dialysis session per week at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, Guillano said.
In recent years, the city has seen an influx of privately-run dialysis centers, and commemorative activities were held in blessing new dialysis machines replacing old ones or adding to the original number.
To maintain their competitiveness, privately-run dialysis centers do not hesitate to claim they offer low dialysis rates which can compete with those offered by public hospitals.
In 2010, two freestanding dialysis centers began their operations with low rates for a competitive headstart.
Guillano, however, stressed it is not factual to say the reason why dialysis centers in the city currently offer low rates is because of government initiatives. He said sometime around 2004 or 2005, private hospital Brokenshire was the first in the city to lower it’s dialysis rates to P800 per session. Around the same time public hospitals also lowered their rates.
“After that the Davao Medical Center (now called the SPMC) lowered its rate to P700 and private hospitals lowered their rate to P800 per session,” Guillano said.
Last year, a private hospital began offering the lowest dialysis rate yet, P500 per session at the Alexian Brothers Medical Center.
Guillano said that Philhealth is currently offering more benefits to kidney patients in order to minimize their expenses. He said he foresees the national government even exerting to add more health benefits to kidney patients.
“It’s the problem of the national government if it does not try to lower the number of kidney patients at the present. Kidney disease is a developing complication. The number of people who go to dialysis centers is actually only the tip of the iceberg. Eventually more people will need health care. It would be better for the government to lower the number of kidney patients now,” Guillano said.
Guillano also said the rise of dialysis centers indicates the city is experiencing a rise in the number of persons with kidney problems.
He said that although the number of dialysis machines in the city has reached a high number, still there is a need for the city to host more dialysis machines.
“The city will continue to grow in the future and we will need more dialysis machines to cater to the rising population,” Guillano said.
Guillano along with Dr. Micheal Jonathan Latayan and Dr. Gemma Tiu together with PSN-Mindanao and other support groups held last March 9 a public awareness activity in time for the World Kidney Day at SM City Davao.
Worldwide, around 500 million people suffer from chronic kidney disease, or one out of 10 adults, according to the International Society of Nephrology.
This year, around 15,000 Filipinos are on dialysis, Guillano said. Last year, 9,000 Filipinos suffered from kidney failure.
In Region 11, Guillano said, there were 407 new patients who started dialysis in 2009 out of 8,708 new patients in the entire Philippines during the same year.
Nephrologists stress that complications in kidneys increase the possibility of heart failure, which is the number one killer among Filipinos.
Guillano reminded that people should have their kidneys checked once a year and to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
