BACKGROUND: Philhealth, the national health insurance program, aims to reduce out-of-pocket expenditures by subsidizing hospital admission expenses. A possible determinant of its success is the timeliness of management and prevention of discharge delay. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of Philhealth enrollment on the timeliness of discharge of patients with acute illness in a government tertiary hospital. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study involving 98 patients (49 Philhealth members and 49 nonPhilhealth members) was done. Data including age, sex, admitting diagnosis, social service classification, and type of Philhealth membership, were collated from the database of patients from the admitting section. Reasons for delay in discharge and number of days delayed from discharge point were obtained. Comparison of baseline characteristics was analyzed using independent t-test for quantitative variables, and Fisher’s exact test for qualitative variables. Association between PhilHealth coverage and hospital delay was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Discharge delay is 3 times more likely to occur among non-Philhealth members as compared to the Philhealth group. Other variables were not significantly associated with discharge delay. CONCLUSIONS Discharge delay is significantly associated with non-membership to Philhealth. Further investigation through focus group discussions with patients’ families may be done to uncover other possible causes for discharge delay.

BACKGROUND: Philhealth, the national health insurance program, aims to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure to eradicate blockage to healthcare access by subsidizing expenses during admission. A possible determinant of its success is the timeliness of management and prevention of discharge delay. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of Philhealth enrollment with the timeliness of patient discharge in a government tertiary hospital. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study involving 98 patients (49 Philhealth members and 49 nonPhilhealth members) was done. Data including age, sex, admitting diagnosis, social service classification, and type of Philhealth membership were collated from the admitting section. Reasons for delay in discharge and number of days delayed was obtained from discharge clearance list of the social service unit. Association between PhilHealth coverage and hospital delay was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Discharge delay is 3 times more likely to occur among non-Philhealth members as compared to the Philhealth group. Other variables were not significantly associated with discharge delay. CONCLUSIONS Discharge delay is significantly associated with non-membership to Philhealth.Further investigation through focus group discussions with patients’ families may be done to uncover other possible causes for discharge delay.