Medical referral patients down by 36 percent this fiscal year

The number of patients being referred off-island for treatment has significantly dipped and may result in a 36-percent reduction by the end of the fiscal year, according to CNMI Medical Referral Program director Ron Sablan.

He attributed the large decline to recent cutbacks and internal control measures.

In fiscal year 2010, the program referred over 1,100 patients to various medical facilities in the Philippines, the United States, Hawaii, and Guam, Sablan said.

By the end of fiscal year 2012, he estimates the volume of referred patients to be around 700.

He pointed out, however, that 700 is still a large number and continues to cost the cash-strapped government millions of dollars.

Both the Medical Referral Office and the Medicaid program are under the Executive Branch.

Sablan disclosed that due to the government’s scarce resources, the program’s subsistence allowance for patients was suspended since April this year and the airfare subsidy for patient and their escorts was reduced.

He pointed out that another major factor in the decline of medically referred patients this year is the improved collaboration between and among referring and attending physicians as well as the medical referral program.

“There’s a little control factor because we really focus on who really needs to go. We work with the doctors, both referring and attending physicians,” he told Saipan Tribune in an interview at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.
As long as both medical experts and equipment remain inadequate on island, Sablan believes the CNMI will continue to refer patients for treatment off island.

“As long as the medical facilities are not in full capacity, there’s still need for medical referral. Our task is to send patients out. But I ask the community to please bear with us. We ask for their patience and understanding because we’re trying our best,” said Sablan.

The program was approved a $2.6-million budget for fiscal year 2012. To date, Sablan estimates the program’s overall obligation to medical facilities and travel agents at $1.7 million.

Sablan disclosed that due to issues of delayed payments from Medicaid, the medical referral program is absorbing the full expenses of referred Medicaid patients who are refused treatment by medical facilities.

“Most of our patients are Medicaid patients. We have some hard times sending them because no one wants to accept Medicaid patients and we get the blame [from family members]. …When that happens, we send them to the Philippines and our program covers 100 percent [of the cost]. This is an issue beyond our control,” he said.

The medical referral program has been the government’s largest expenditure over the years. In 2010, the government spent more than $8 million on its medical referral program.