IMSS, ISSSTE to Swap Healthcare Personnel in Distant Communities
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IMSS, ISSSTE to Swap Healthcare Personnel in Distant Communities

Photo by:   ISSSTE
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Antonio Gozain By Antonio Gozain | Senior Journalist and Industry Analyst - Mon, 08/30/2021 - 13:08

IMSS and ISSSTE will swap personnel to strengthen healthcare in remote communities, informed Luis Antonio Ramírez Pineda, Director General of ISSSTE, during a working tour in Oaxaca.

“Exchanges of services are very difficult because the costs of these are very different in both institutions, and this meant that we as ISSSTE had to subrogate them to the private sector. Today we are reviewing the rates and agreements so that both institutions can help each other. We are looking for alternatives, the best options that allow us to streamline and improve our patients service,” he said.

Decentralization of healthcare workers in big cities is one of the most important challenges that Mexican healthcare services face, explained Ramírez, who exhorted young doctors to work in remote communities. “In the visits to each region that we have made in the country, the main challenge is the lack of personnel, since very few decide to work in clinics that are in the most remote areas. For this reason, I exhort young doctors to develop their profession in communities far from the cities, which will help the right to live and join the transformation of health services in Mexico,” he said.

ISSSTE authorities have been visiting remote regions in Mexico during the past months, aiming to identify the specific needs and problems in every community, said Ramírez. ISSSTE opened an expansion for the Family Healthcare Unit (UMF) in Miahuatlan de Porfirio Diaz, Oaxaca, which will strengthen the attention than over 7,000 people receive in that community. “The medical facilities that we inherited are already far exceeded by the size of the beneficiary population, so we have been carrying out extensions to strengthen the medical units, starting with the first-level ones,” said Ramírez.

The UMF in San Pablo Huixtepec, also located in Oaxaca’s Central Valleys, will receive new equipment, materials and supplies to benefit over 3,000 people. Personnel exchange between IMSS and ISSSTE will help both institutions to offer a better service in remote communities across the country, concluded Ramírez.

One Third of the Population Does Not Have Health Services

Mexican population affiliated with public healthcare institutions decreased by 14.4 percent between 2018 and 2020, while out-of-pocket expenditure in health increased by 40 percent, reported MBN earlier this month.

In 2018, there were 102 million Mexicans affiliated to at least one public health institution (IMSS, ISSSTE, Pemex or IMSS Bienestar, among others), compared to the 87.4 million affiliated last year. People that did not report themselves as affiliated to any health subsystem went from 22.4 million to 38.8 million, 30.6 percent of the population.

Photo by:   ISSSTE

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