The Medical City Ortigas bags HOSPITAL OF THE YEAR and MEDICAL TOURISM AWARD at Healthcare Asia Awards 2022

By The Medical City (TMC), Ortigas | June 23, 2022

For the fifth year in a row, The Medical City (TMC) main hospital in Ortigas, Pasig City has won awards in the prestigious Healthcare Asia Awards – the coveted Hospital of the Year and Medical Tourism awards for its Back to Health, Back to the City Program.

The awards program recognizes remarkable performances or cutting-edge development from healthcare organizations across Asia. The Medical City’s continuous efforts to care for international patients and to thrive despite the mounting challenges brought by the pandemic have distinguished the hospital from its competitors and elevated it to the status of award winners at the recently-concluded Healthcare Asia Awards.

Amid the pandemic, TMC submitted itself for assessment and testing by the Joint Commission International (JCI) and subsequently earned its Gold Seal of Approval® for a record sixth time. JCI is the world’s premier healthcare quality improvement and accreditation body. The Gold Seal of Approval® is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care.

TMC’s Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) Program also retained its status as the first of its kind in the Philippines and currently one of only 15 around the world that is certified by JCI. AMI is the medical term for heart attack.

“The pandemic did not disappear in 2021, but instead generated more surges. As the country struggled with inadequate vaccine supplies, delayed vaccinations, and mounting pressure to open up the economy, we at The Medical City adapted perhaps faster and better than most,” says TMC President and CEO Dr. Eugenio Jose F. Ramos.

“We devised a 2-hospital-in-1 complex to secure the safety and patronage of the non-COVID cases for which we won the COVID-19 management award at last year’s Healthcare Asia awards, launched our new Hospital Information System just a month before the second COVID-19 surge, and three months before having a home-run with our 6th JCI accreditation and 3rd Acute Myocardial Infarction certification,” adds Dr. Ramos.

Notwithstanding the pandemic and under severe limitations, TMC coped, survived and continued to deliver quality care and safety measures to its patients. With the same vigor it had during preparations for previous accreditations, TMC braced for the JCI virtual survey which took place on October 11 to 14, 2021. This involved a comprehensive inspection of the facility, review of practices and procedures, and examination for evidence of sustained compliance and improvement.

On October 18 and 19, 2021, a JCI surveyor conducted the virtual inspection and certification survey for TMC’s AMI program. The TMC Cardiovascular Institute’s AMI program was established to treat heart attack patients effectively and rapidly. It targets a 60 minute or less Door-to-Balloon time which means that a heart attack patient who walks through the doors of the hospital’s Emergency Department should have the blocked coronary artery opened in the Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab) within 60 minutes.

With the pandemic posing additional challenges in both hospital emergency processes and patient reaction time in seeking care, it has been especially difficult for TMC to prepare for reassessment and recertification. The commitment to rapid response, a holistic approach to heart health, and positive patient outcomes year on year were what earned TMC its third consecutive AMI Clinical Care certification.

Aside from these recognitions, TMC reinforced its telehealth and remote healthcare services in a timely response to the pandemic so that when patients cannot come to the hospital, the hospital will go to them.

TMC also launched its new hospital information system and electronic medical records in the middle of 2021 which was part of TMC’s latest phase of digital transformation that introduced improved features and functionalities in its core IT systems, and implemented a more robust, flexible, and efficient system to enable key hospital processes and services.

These achievements reiterate TMC’s commitment to offer the highest quality care and ensure utmost safety for patients even in the face of this global health crisis.

Back to Health, Back to the City

The Medical City had to reassure people that it would be safe to visit a hospital to seek treatment for COVID-19 as well as for other reasons. The hospital leaders saw that if people avoided hospitals when they needed treatment, they would only become part of a second pandemic with illnesses that might have been resolved if treated early.

This was the same reason why The Medical City remained open for foreign patients throughout the pandemic. The global health crisis may have substantial negative effects on medical tourism but there is still a demand for high-quality, safe, and affordable care in foreign lands. The Medical City’s long track record of accepting and assisting patients traveling to the Philippines enabled the hospital to easily adapt to the ever-changing travel restrictions. Its partnership with various government agencies likewise ensured a seamless experience for foreign patients.

Launching the Back to Health, Back to the City campaign, The Medical City encouraged more foreign travelers to visit the country and avail of the hospital’s services, including medical procedures, traveling to tourist spots, shop hop experience, and wellness relaxation at partner hotels. The Medical City offered foreign travelers a 15% discount on all in-patient and out-patient procedures. Despite travel restrictions, The Medical City has sustained and even surpassed the pre-pandemic numbers of international patients seeking medical care and procedures.

Accolades for The Medical City Ortigas and The Medical City South Luzon

This is the fifth year in a row that The Medical City Ortigas has won awards from Healthcare Asia. Last year, the hospital’s out-of-the-box strategy “TMC One Complex, Two Hospital Systems” earned the COVID Management Initiative of the Year award. In 2020, it won its first Hospital of the Year award and Customer Service Initiative of the Year award for its Red Coat Ambassadors Program.

In 2019, lauded for his leadership skills and his ability to foster, encourage, and inspire The Medical City community, TMC President and CEO Dr. Eugenio Jose F. Ramos took home the CEO of the Year Award. And in 2018, the hospital clinched the Marketing Initiative of the Year award for “Sing-A-Lung,” the hospital’s pulmonary test that patients can sing.

Another TMC enterprise hospital, The Medical City South Luzon was declared as this year’s winner of the Secondary Hospital of the Year and ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) Program of the Year awards also by Healthcare Asia Awards.

Just last year, TMC South Luzon bagged these two awards from Healthcare Asia – Service Delivery Innovation Initiative of the Year and Employee Engagement of the Year awards.

The Medical City is the country’s largest healthcare network with its main facility located along Ortigas Avenue in the business district of Pasig City, Metro Manila, while the provincial hospitals are situated in Clark, Iloilo, Laguna, and Pangasinan. This is supplemented by a network of over 50 clinics in strategic locations scattered all over the Metro and in select provinces, a concrete proof of the hospital’s commitment to make high quality healthcare accessible to its growing customer base.