By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Social Security authorities announced Wednesday, the budget of $1,6 billion in infrastructure improvements and purchase of medical equipment, for the period 2019 to 2020.

According to Social Security, the budget will be financed with resources from various sources, including Social Security, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, the World Bank, the Social Protection Board, and others.

Before the announcement of the budget, President Carlos Alvarado said, referring to Social Security, that “the capacity we have as a country to make an investment of this magnitude for the benefit of the health of all people is impressive, thereby consolidating our solidarity model which is recognized worldwide. "

According to Social Security, improvements will be made in clinics and hospitals throughout the country.

Special attention will be given in the clinics of the rural area such as San Isidro, Santa Barbara, Naranjo, Santa Cruz and 30 more that are included in the plan of action of trust between Social Security and the Bank of Costa Rica, the agency said.

In addition to infrastructure, the investment includes the purchase of equipment such as anesthesia machines, X-ray equipment, among others. The exact amount of the investment was given as $1,643,375,894.

According to social security, The investment has the goal of improving the quality of service given to patients.

In September, as A.M. Costa Rica previously reported, the Social Security authorities announced a survey campaign for its patients, which will run into November.

According to information provided by the Comptroller of Services, the survey will canvass 17,511 people who use medical consultation services. That includes the estimated 3,206 patients who are hospitalized in the country.

According to Patricia Salas-Chacón, director of the Comptroller of Services, the goal of these surveys is to measure the level of patient satisfaction. "It is necessary those surveyed be as honest and transparent as possible," she said.

The information collected by the survey will be used to create plans for improvements and provide better service to the patients, said the agency.

According to Social Security, the survey is being performed by phone calls to patients or by interviewing patients directly in clinics.

The authorities warned the public that no bank details or information about computer passwords are being requested. They advised patients to be alert to possible false calls from scammers under the pretext of this survey.

No public institution should call citizens to request sensitive data such as passwords to computers or bank account information, the agency noted.

In the case of the Social Security survey, only questions related to the level of satisfaction with the medical services provided are being asked, the agency said,  adding that the questionnaire is about patients or member opinions regarding service quality, infrastructure, employee capacity, and confidence, among others.

Social Security representatives are located on stands inside the clinics and hospitals to do a direct survey to people. Another group of representatives are handling handle patient phone surveys.

According to Mario Ruiz-Cubillo, Social Security medical manager, the institution expects to achieve a rating of more than 90 percent on the service quality questionnaire from patients, based on 100 percent as the highest level of patient satisfaction.

According to Social Security, this survey campaign is being carried out as a result of the commitments when it assumed a loan from the World Bank.

In April, the court gave Social Security six months to reduce patient waiting lists in hospitals.

The Constitutional Court Chamber ordered Social Security to design an integrated management system to reduce the "disproportionate and unreasonable deadlines patients should expect in hospitals," said the ruling. It has six months to approve a design. The problem is that delays represents a systematic and repeated violation of the right to health, said the court.

To follow up on compliance with this ruling, the Constitutional Chamber set a public hearing for Nov. 14 in the Supreme Court of Justice. On that day, the authorities of Social Security must present the advances and actions developed.


-----------------------------
How do you rate services provided by Social Security, bad, good or excellent?   We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

Booking.com