An Analysis of Psychiatric Workforce Distribution in the Philippines

Background: In the Philippines, studies have shown that availability and access to healthcare varies widely. Although the shortage of psychiatrists in the country has been recognized for many years, no published study to date has described their distribution across the regions. This study aimed to describe the distribution of psychiatrists in the country using publicly available data on the Internet. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, analyzing publicly available data from the Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA) web directory, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) web database of accredited psychiatrists, and the Philippine Statistics Authority. Information on location of practice, sex, PPA membership, PhilHealth accreditation, regional gross domestic product (GDP), and regional population were collated. Results: Information on 409 psychiatrists was available online, with 68% being female and 53% holding PhilHealth accreditation. There were a total of 417 declared locations of practice, with six psychiatrists practicing in more than one location. The National Capital Region accounted for 53.5% of the declared practice locations, while no psychiatrist declared practicing in the Bangsamoro region. Conclusions: This study highlights the maldistribution of psychiatrists across the Philippines. Policies to incentivize and encourage practice in low-access regions and investment in technology, such as telemedicine, may help reduce the access gap.