The face-scan ID check: what to do and what to keep

What the face scan is

The face scan is a quick identity check done on PhilHealth's own page, often called the PCU check. The patient looks at the camera, PhilHealth confirms the person, and a reference number is produced. The duties around it are set out in PhilHealth Circular 2025-0017.

Two different scans

There are two moments for a scan. The first is the check-in scan, done at the counter before the first check-up. The second is the scan connected to the yearly sign-up, done when the patient completes YES on the portal. They look similar, so it is easy to mix them up. SugboDoc's face-scan log tells check-in scans apart from sign-up scans so each one is filed against the right step.

What to keep

Keep the reference number and the result for every scan. In SugboDoc, staff save each ID check in the face-scan log with its reference number and result. That gives you something to point to later if a visit or a sign-up is questioned.

SugboDoc stores the reference number and result. It never ticks consent for the patient and it does not replace the scan. The scan always happens on PhilHealth's page, never inside SugboDoc.

Fewer copy-paste mistakes

Copying a long reference number by hand is where errors creep in. The optional PCU Bridge browser extension can fill the reference number and the result into SugboDoc for you. If what it reads does not match what staff expect, staff have to click to confirm before anything is saved. Without the extension, PhilHealth's check opens in its own window and staff type the result in by hand.

A short routine

At the counter: open PhilHealth's check, scan the patient, then log the reference and result straight away while the patient is still there. At sign-up time: log the new scan against the yearly step. Re-read Circular 2025-0017 whenever PhilHealth issues an update, since the exact duties can change.