Philippine Health Care Delivery System

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering definitions, core principles, management functions, organizational structures, DOH mandates, and care levels in the Philippine Health Care Delivery System.

Health System

All organizations, people, and actions whose primary interest is to promote, restore, or maintain health.

Alma-Ata Declaration

A declaration stating that health is a fundamental human right and that the attainment of the highest possible level of health is a most important worldwide social goal requiring action from many social and economic sectors.

Primary Health Care (PHC)

Essential health care made universally accessible and acceptable to individuals through full participation and at a cost the community and country can afford.

Health Care System (Miller-Keane, 1987)

An organized plan of health services.

Health Care Delivery (Williams-Tungpalan, 1981)

The rendering of health care services to the people.

Health Care Delivery System (Williams-Tungpalan, 1981)

The network of health facilities and personnel which carries out the task of rendering health care to the people.

Philippine Health Care System (Dizon, 1977)

A complex set of organizations interacting to provide an array of health services in the Philippines.

Equitable Distribution of Health Care

A core principle stating that primary care and other services must be provided equally to all individuals regardless of gender, age, caste, urban/rural location, or social class.

Multi-Sectoral Approach

A core principle recognizing that health cannot be improved by interventions within the formal health sector alone, and that other sectors are equally important.

Appropriate Technology

Medical technology that is accessible, affordable, feasible, and culturally acceptable to the community.

Planning

A health care management function focused on setting a direction, determining what needs to be accomplished, setting priorities, and establishing performance targets.

Organizing

A health care management function focused on designing the organization, division, unit, or service, as well as designating reporting relationships, teamwork assignments, and authority distribution.

Staffing

A health care management function focused on acquiring and retaining human resources and assigning individuals to positions based on Key Result Areas (KRAs).

Controlling

A health care management function focused on monitoring staff activities and performance and taking appropriate corrective actions.

Directing

A health care management function focused on initiating action through effective leadership, motivation, and communication.

Authority

The formal and legitimate right to make decisions, issue orders, and allocate resources.

Responsibility

An employee's duty to perform assigned tasks or activities.

Accountability

Reporting and justifying task outcomes to superiors in the chain of command.

Line Authority

Formal power to direct and control immediate subordinates directly.

Functional Authority

Formal power over a specific subset of activities.

Staff Authority

Authority granted to specialists in their areas of expertise to advise, recommend, and counsel without giving orders.

Centralization

The location of decision-making authority near top organizational levels.

Decentralization

The location of decision-making authority near lower organizational levels.

Formalization

The written documentation used to direct and control employees.

DOH Mandate (E.O. No. 119, Sec. 3)

The promotion, protection, preservation, or restoration of the health of the people through service provision and regulation.

Primary Level Health Facilities

Units such as rural health units (RHUs), sub-centers, chest clinics, malaria eradication units, schistosomiasis units, puericulture centers, private/industrial clinics, and community health centers.

Secondary Level Health Facilities

Smaller, non-departmentalized hospitals (including emergency and regional hospitals) providing care for symptomatic stages of disease requiring moderate specialization.

Tertiary Level Health Facilities

Medical centers, large hospitals, and specialized national hospitals offering highly technological, sophisticated, and specialized services for serious conditions.

Village or Grassroot Health Workers

The first contacts of the community and initial links of health care who provide simple curative and preventive measures (e.g., community health workers, volunteers, and traditional birth attendants).

Intermediate Level Health Workers

The first source of professional health care attending to problems beyond the competence of village workers (e.g., medical practitioners, nurses, and midwives).

First Line Hospital Personnel

Health professionals who provide backup health services for cases requiring hospitalization (e.g., physicians with specialty, nurses, dentists, and pharmacists).