Seeing social media posts like these where families are desperate to look for a medical facility or hospital is no longer new to us. Despite all the efforts of fighting this pandemic, the numbers are still overwhelming as the cases surge once again causing a shortage of medical workers and facilities.
Sadly, this is a reality that we need to face today. This is not just happening in the Philippines but in many countries around the world as well such as India, Brazil, Lebanon, and even some parts of the US.
So, what can I do when hospitals are at full capacity? For mild or moderate symptoms, you can opt to manage this at home rather than exposing yourself or the patient more to the virus. It also wouldn't be wise to endure the scorching heat of the sun (which will just make you feel worse) while staying in triage tents waiting for your turn to be admitted. We have heard a lot of patients passing away while in the tent perhaps because of cardiac arrest brought by the extreme heat and exhaustion.
I am NOT a medical practitioner and have limited medical knowledge, how can I ensure I am doing the right thing?
The good news is -- you can now provide home care and have a doctor attend to them online.
Amid the influx of
COVID-19 patients in hospitals, PhilCare -- one of the Philippines’ most
preferred health maintenance organizations (HMO) -- has launched the country’s
first-ever service that aims to provide the utmost care for COVID-positive patients
without leaving their homes.
PhilCare is now offering
COVID Home Care Telemonitoring, an exclusive online consultation
service for members who tested positive for viral disease.
It allows affected
members to receive advice from PhilCare’s Home Care doctors through video
call, thus saving them from the need to visit the hospital and from
spreading the disease, given there are now more infectious variants. It also
saves their loved ones from possibly getting infected.
Based on the PhilCare
CQ Wellness Index, which was conducted during the first lockdowns in 2020,
seven out of ten Filipinos said that they were afraid to go to a hospital or
clinic for fear of contracting COVID-19. Interestingly, nine out of ten said
that they were afraid of a “second wave” of the virus.
COVID-19 cases in the
Philippines began resurging last March, a year after the World Health
Organization (WHO) declared the pandemic.
Concerned
patient-members will need to have with them a copy of their COVID-positive
confirmatory RT-PCR or antigen test results to avail of the service. It also
has to be indicated whether they have mild or moderate symptoms, or are
asymptomatic.
Mild COVID-19 symptoms
include the following:
- Fever below 37.8°C,
- Loss of sense of smell or
taste,
- Muscle aches and headaches,
- Sore throat or runny nose,
- Absence of marked breathlessness
- Normal or fairly normal appetite.
Moderate COVID-19
symptoms, meanwhile, include the following:
- More troublesome cough than
those with mild symptoms
- Fever of at least 37.8°C
- Breathlessness during
exercise or walking up the stairs,
- Slight soreness in coughing,
- Feeling
tired, but still able to move
comfortably
- Eating impeded by breathing.
Concerned members may,
then, avail of this service by accessing DigiMed PLUS via PhilCare’s website at
www.philcare.com.ph and clicking “Member Gateway” under the Gateway menu. Members
registered in the Member Gateway may then log in, while unregistered PhilCare
members just need to sign-up.
1. Once inside the Member
Gateway, members should select “DigiMed PLUS,” then onto “Do Digital Consult.”
2. Afterward, they should select “COVID Home Care Telemonitoring” to set an
appointment with a doctor for a video consultation, then indicate “COVID
Positive Telemonitoring” as their chief complaint before confirming their
respective requests.
“We recognize how
difficult it has been for many of our fellow Filipinos, especially those
positive with COVID-19, to get the medical care they need with the emergency
rooms becoming crowded and our healthcare system becoming overwhelmed. Our aim
for the COVID Home Care Telemonitoring is to help alleviate that burden
and provide Filipinos with the same quality of care possible without leaving home,”
said PhilCare President and CEO Jaeger L. Tanco.
“The ability for people
to engage with doctors quickly and seamlessly through smartphones, laptops, and
other gadgets mark a significant shift in modern healthcare. This venture is
not just about helping solve health concerns but doing it as fast and as
efficient as possible with the technology as the driver,” he added.
The COVID Home Care
Telemonitoring is just one of the services under PhilCare’s new Home Care
umbrella of services, which includes its Home Care Medical Service and
its MedHub Mobile clinics, open to both PhilCare members and
non-members.
The Home Care Medical
Service makes PhilCare the first HMO in the country to offer services such as
laboratory, ECG, chest x-ray, and even COVID-19 testing (RT-PCR and antigen)
right at your doorstep.
Mobile MedHub,
meanwhile, is PhilCare’s clinic on wheels that aims to bring medical
consultation services closer to homes and offices within Metro Manila. Aside
from consults, the MedHub Mobile clinics also offer basic annual physical
examination (APE), ECG, pap smear, drug testing, and onsite vaccination.
“We are thankful to have
launched the PhilCare CQ Wellness Index last year because it enabled us to
better respond to the medical needs, not just of our members, but more
importantly, of the general populace. The findings of this groundbreaking study
on the state of health and wellness of Filipinos amid the pandemic drove us to
develop new programs that address their concerns in this crisis,” Tanco said.
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About PhilCare
PhilhealthCare, Inc. (PhilCare) is among the top two most preferred health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in the Philippines. It distinguishes itself from other HMOs in the Philippines by advocating wellness as a more holistic approach to health.
This is achieved through PhilCare’s sustainable health plans, groundbreaking researches, and technology-enabled customer experience. PhilCare offers a wide range of health care plans to serve the different requirements of individuals, groups, and enterprise accounts.
From prepaid to comprehensive coverage, PhilCare’s extensive line of products covers hospitalization, out-patient, and emergency healthcare needs across a nationwide network of hospitals, clinics, and physicians.
PhilCare has been conducting Wellness Indices beginning with its pioneering study in 2014, which led the HMO to introduce the very first prepaid health plans in the country. Since then, it has conducted periodic research in an effort to measure the state of Filipinos’ health and wellness.
PhilCare’s commitment to promoting wellness among Filipinos makes it an essential pillar of Maestro Holdings, a grand concord of four of the biggest and respected financial companies in the Philippines. Under the Maestro’s baton, PhilCare joins four of the most recognizable names in their respective industries: PhilsFirst, the first domestic non-life insurance company in the country; PhilLife, one of the most trusted insurance providers in the Philippines; PhilPlans, one of the leading financial solutions companies providing pension, education, and memorial programs.
