Impact of primary care benefits on healthcare utilisation and estimated out-of-pocket expenses in urban, rural and remote settings in the Philippines.

Background: This study aimed to determine the effects of primary care interventions on healthcare utilisation and estimated out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses in selected urban, rural and remote settings in the Philippines.

Methodology: Context-specific measures relating to expanding healthcare provider networks, augmenting the health human workforce and subsidising transportation costs were implemented to strengthen primary care systems. In this study, two key outcomes were monitored: (1) monthly healthcare utilisation measured by the total number of outpatient consultations per site and (2) change in OOP expenses from baseline to endline within a 1 year study period.

The Cost of Primary Care: An Experience Analysis in an Urban Setting.

Objectives: PhilHealth's present health benefit scheme is largely centered on in-patient services. This inadvertently incentivizes hospital admissions for increased access to benefit coverage. To address this problem, this study proposes a costing method to comprehensively finance outpatient care.

Adherence of Primary Care Providers to Practice Guidelines for Common Pediatric Conditions in Urban, Rural, and Remote Sites in the Philippines: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Evaluation of primary care allows for identification of problems in the healthcare system, such as poor health outcomes, inappropriate health services, overuse of unnecessary resources, or underuse of recommended strategies. Assessment of adherence to existing clinical practice guidelines as quality indicators is critical for evaluating the effectiveness of primary care and shaping healthcare policies.

Objectives: To determine the adherence of primary care providers to existing practice guidelines for common pediatric concerns in remote, rural, and urban areas in the Philippines.

Prescribing Patterns in a Primary Care Service in a Rural Site in the Philippines from April 2019 to March 2020 - A Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Appropriate use of medication is an important indicator of quality healthcare delivery among children. Previously published studies on drug utilization involved Filipino households in general and were conducted in the 1990s. No recent Philippine studies have been conducted that focus on drug utilization in children.

Adherence of Physicians to Local Guideline Recommendations among Patients with COVID-19 in Two Tertiary Public Hospitals in Metro Manila, Philippines: A Rapid Assessment Study.

Objectives: Adherence to clinical practice guidelines (CPG) has been shown to reduce inter-physician practice variation and improve quality of care. This study evaluated guideline adherence of physicians in two tertiary public hospitals to local CPG on COVID-19.

Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective chart review, rapid assessment method study.

Frequency Distribution of Pediatric Primary Care Cases in a Rural Site in The Philippines: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Primary care for pediatric patients focuses on providing comprehensive, accessible, and coordinated healthcare from the neonatal period to adolescence. The implementation and use of electronic medical records (EMR) in pediatric primary care facilities is an efficient strategy to gather necessary information on the epidemiology of common pediatric diseases in the Philippines.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the frequency distribution of pediatric diseases in a rural primary healthcare facility in the Philippines.

Health Benefit Utilization and Out-of-Pocket Expenses in Outpatient Care and Hospitalizations: Baseline Surveys of Three Primary Care Sites in the Philippines.

Background: The Philippine Primary Care Studies (PPCS) is a network of pilot studies that developed, implemented, and tested strategies to strengthen primary care in the country. These pilot studies were implemented in an urban, rural, and remote setting. The aim is to use the findings to guide the policies of the national health insurance program (PhilHealth), the main payor for individualized healthcare services in the country.

Pediatric Conditions and Platforms of Telemedicine Used in Philippine Primary Care: A Cross-sectional Study.

Background And Objective: Inequity in access to healthcare continues to be a problem in the Philippines. This was further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine is considered a potential strategy to address inequitable access to healthcare; however, it only gained popularity during the pandemic.

Perspectives on telemedicine across urban, rural and remote areas in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: This study explored attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control of participants across urban, rural and remote settings and examined intention-to-use telemedicine (defined in this study as remote patient-clinician consultations) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. 12 focus group discussions were conducted with 60 diverse telemedicine user and non-user participants across 3 study settings.

Chest CT Scan Findings in Children with COVID-19: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: To gather, summarize, and appraise the available evidence on: 1) the accuracy of chest CT scan in diagnosing COVID-19 among children, and 2) the characteristic chest CT scan findings associated with COVID-19 pneumonia in children.

Methods: We comprehensively searched databases (MEDLINE, COCHRANE), clinical trial registries, bibliographic lists of selected studies, and unpublished data for relevant studies. Guide questions from the Painless Evidence Based Medicine and the National Institutes of Health Quality Assessment Tools were used to assess study quality.

Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Safety of COVID-19 Vaccine Compared to Placebo in Preventing COVID-19 Infection among 12-17 Years Old: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: The World Health Organization recently revised their recommendations and considered healthy children and adolescents as low priority group for COVID-19 vaccine. This review comprehensively assessed existing clinical evidence on COVID-19 vaccine in 12-17 years old.

Methods: Included in this review were any type of study that investigated the efficacy, immunogenicity, safety, and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine on protection against SARS-COV-2 infection in 12-17 years old.

Telemedicine Usability and Satisfaction among Pediatric Rheumatology Patients and their Caregivers during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic opened an opportunity to explore the role of telemedicine in pediatric rheumatology clinic as well as patient satisfaction with virtual visits.

Objective: To determine the usability and satisfaction rate of telemedicine among pediatric rheumatology patients and their caregivers.

Method: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among patients and caregivers consulting via telemedicine at a pediatric rheumatology clinic of University of the Philippines - Philippine General Hospital (UP - PGH), a tertiary government hospital.

Impact of primary care system interventions on healthcare worker satisfaction and intention to stay in the Philippines: a follow-up study.

Background: The Philippines has a shortage and uneven distribution of healthcare workers (HCWs). Job satisfaction is an important element to HCW retention and attracting new HCWs into the health system.

Objective: This study measured HCWs' intent to stay and HCWs' satisfaction after implementation of multiple interventions intended to strengthen the primary care system, and determine factors significantly associated with HCWs' intent to stay.

Facing the digital frontier: exploring user acceptance of electronic health records in an urban, rural and remote setting in the Philippines.

Objectives: A thorough understanding of user needs and behavioural intent-to-use underpins the development of a responsive health information system. This study aimed to examine health workers' intent-to-use an electronic health record (EHR) system in an urban, rural and remote setting in the Philippines.

Methods: Following the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology framework, user acceptance and the factors influencing intent-to-use the EHR were examined through a self-administered questionnaire.

Promoting equitable and patient-centred care: an analysis of patient satisfaction in urban, rural and remote primary care sites in the Philippines.

Objectives: This study measured changes in patient satisfaction levels before and after the introduction of primary care system strengthening interventions in urban, rural, and remote sites in the Philippines.

Methods: A previously validated 16-item questionnaire was distributed to 200 patients per site before implementation of interventions and to a different set of 200 patients 1 year after implementation. We compared the percentage change in highly satisfied patients per site before and after implementing interventions using a two-proportion Z-test.

Feasibility, acceptability and impact of a clinical decision support tool among primary care providers in an urban, rural and remote site in the Philippines.

Introduction: Strengthening primary care helps address health inequities that continue to persist in the Philippines. The Philippine Primary Care Studies pilot-tested interventions to improve the primary care system. One intervention was the provision of a free subscription to an electronic decision support application called UpToDate (UTD) for primary care providers (PCPs), including doctors, nurses, midwives and community health workers (CHWs).

Reinfection rates, change in antibody titers and adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination among patients previously infected with COVID-19 in Metro Manila, Philippines: a secondary analysis of a completed cohort study.

Background: Variation in immune response to COVID-19 vaccines is observed among different ethnicities. We aimed to describe the reinfection rates, change in antibody titers, and adverse events among Filipinos.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a cohort study of 307 participants within one year of having COVID-19 infection.

Protocol for the development of guidance for collaborator and partner engagement in health care evidence syntheses.

Background: Involving collaborators and partners in research may increase relevance and uptake, while reducing health and social inequities. Collaborators and partners include people and groups interested in health research: health care providers, patients and caregivers, payers of health research, payers of health services, publishers, policymakers, researchers, product makers, program managers, and the public. Evidence syntheses inform decisions about health care services, treatments, and practice, which ultimately affect health outcomes.

Durability and extent of protection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among patients with COVID-19 in Metro Manila, Philippines.

Introduction: Information on the magnitude and durability of humoral immunity against COVID-19 among specific populations can guide policies on vaccination, return from isolation and physical distancing measures. The study determined the durability of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after an initial infection among Filipinos in Metro Manila, Philippines, and the extent of protection SARS-CoV-2 antibodies confer against reinfection.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study to monitor the antibody levels of patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

PROTOCOL: Barriers and facilitators to stakeholder engagement in health guideline development: A qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: There is a need for the development of comprehensive, global, evidence-based guidance for stakeholder engagement in guideline development. Stakeholders are any individual or group who is responsible for or affected by health- and healthcare-related decisions. This includes patients, the public, providers of health care and policymakers for example.

Acute limb ischemia in an adolescent with COVID-19 and systemic scleroderma: a case report.

Background: Juvenile Scleroderma is a rare autoimmune disease of the connective tissue. Its concurrence with COVID-19 can lead to limb ischemia as both disease entities are pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic. To date, there is no case report describing the symptomatology and course of disease in patients with juvenile Scleroderma and COVID-19.