FAQ

Fatwa

The administration of the Fund liaises with many medical service providers. When a patient is unable to bear the costs of diagnosis and treatment is found, the service provider uploads the patient’s details to a special account on the PPF website by filling in a patient nomination form. This form provides full patient details like name, address, telephone number and email address. Likewise, it provides the number of social affairs or a letter of recognition from a certified humanitarian organization or a charitable organization stipulating the patient’s need for support and that his social standing does not allow him to bear the costs of medical services. After the donation and commencement of the medical service, the service provider prepares a detailed medical report about the measures carried out together with pictures of the patient before and after the treatment, if allowed by the patient. The administration of the Fund, likewise, conducts random calls to beneficiaries; both patients and those who have completed treatment, to ensure their pleasure and for them to rate the services received.

The required treatment funds include the bills of service providers (hospital, pharmacy, rehabilitation centre and physiotherapy, X-ray centre etc.), medical service provided to the patient and bank charges for international transfers and currency exchange, and a small percentage to the electronic financial protection agent. In general, the administration of the Fund tries to keep the management fee at a minimum: 5% to 10% of the cost of treatment depending on the location of the patient and the nature of the service/s required.

The idea of the Poor Patient Fund aims to serve poor and marginalized patients all over the world, but the program in its current experimental stage is aimed at Palestinian patients. The service will broaden in stages depending on administrative measures and the provision of the necessary infrastructure. It must be noted that every patient, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, may take benefit from the Poor Patient Fund if he attends any of the service providers accredited by the Poor Patient Fund.

The policy of the Poor Patient Fund dictates that the provision of financial support to secure medical services like diagnosing and treating is for the benefit of the poor and marginalized patients. This is through agreements and understandings with a number of service providers. We do not deal with the patient directly. The Poor Patient Fund requires the service provider to present a medical service, not financial support to the poor patient. The Poor Patient Fund also includes measures and mechanisms and means of following and auditing invoices issued by the service provider and reviewing the uploaded reports. The working team of the Poor Patient Fund also includes co-ordinators and representatives who visit service providers periodically and review the files of patient candidates and beneficiaries. In a case where a patient requires urgent support services to complete treatment (transport, visa, government authorization, etc.), the service provider should pay for it under the official bills according to the appropriate local tariff and after notifying the administration of the Poor Patient Fund.

Out of the respect for the privacy of the patient, it is the policy of the program to display the general details of the patient i.e. his/her first name, age, medical condition and social standing. Note that the finer details are sent to the donor only. We also try to send a photograph of the patient before and after treatment after taking his/her permission. This is to ensure the transparency and credibility of the program.