PhilhealthCare, Inc. (PhilCare) reported a 21% growth in net income to P130.6 million in 2019, driven by sales of its new products.
The health maintenance organization (HMO) saw its revenues rose by 16% to P2.68 billion last year, compared to the preceding year. Benefits, claims, and expenses also increased by 15% year-on-year to P2.5 billion.
“We are really happy that our efforts in 2019 bore fruit, from the aggressive sales of our innovative products like our prepaid health cards to the new partnerships we formed and the new sales channels that we have opened. All these have contributed significantly to the increase of our bottom line,” PhilCare President and Chief Executive Officer Jaeger L. Tanco said in a statement.
PhilCare’s introduced its pioneering prepaid health card which was born following the results of its first Wellness Index in 2014. The study noted that many Filipinos did not have access to healthcare coverage due to a lack of corporate health benefits.
Aside from the health cards, the HMO also introduced its DigiMed service, a form of medical teleconsultation, which it claimed would make “a more pronounced impact as the nation embraces the new normal” spurred by the impact of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The new service on the HeyPhil app has received 1,500 digital consultations per month so far. It also launched the DigiMed PLUS, a web-based telemedicine application that provides members access to numerous specialists through video calls.
“As the nation gradually prepares itself for the new normal, we continue to gain momentum, seeking for opportune possibilities to leverage change to our advantage, as we dedicate ourselves in fulfilling our mission of making quality healthcare services available to every Filipino,” Mr. Tanco said. — Adam J. Ang
