By Kwabia Owusu-Mensah
Kumasi Nov. 21, GNA – Preventive healthcare will from next year, be part of the health insurance benefits under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr Dacosta Aboagye, Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has announced.
Under the initiative, subscribers to the NHIS will have the opportunity to go for basic health checks annually, which will be covered by the scheme.
Dr Aboagye pointed out that, the introduction of the annual health screening for subscribers under the scheme was part of a strategy to encourage regular medical check-ups among Ghanaians to reduce the incidence of sudden deaths, which were becoming rampant in the country.
He was speaking at a management-senior specialists/consultants consultative forum, organized by the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
The forum, which is the second under the new management of KATH, aimed at seeking the input and commitment of senior specialists and consultants in making KATH a true centre of excellence in the delivery of specialist clinical care, training and research.
Dr Aboagye said the national health insurance scheme was now robust and in a better position to support the healthcare delivery agenda of the country.
He said the Authority had paid all its outstanding claims to service providers, adding that, the Authority last year alone paid over GHc 800 million as claims to service providers.
“Now the Authority is begging facilities to submit their claims for payment,” he told the specialists and consultants at the forum.
The Authority was also reviewing the prices of drugs and services under its list, as part of efforts to introduce new tariffs under the scheme, adding that, very soon the new tariffs would be announced for the service providers.
Dr Aboagye said the Authority would also introduce free dialysis for cancer patients from December this year.
It is also in the process of purchasing dialysis machines for KATH and Korle-bu to increase their stock and reduce the burden cancer patients go through in securing dialysis sessions in these two major hospitals.
Some of the Agenda 111 health facilities would also be equipped with modern dialysis machines to ease access for patients.
Professor Otchere Addai-Mensah, Chief Executive of KATH, said each of the participants brought in unique expertise and perspective to the table as the facility strived to recalibrate its operations as part of strategies to enhance specialist service output at the hospital.
He said the forum was to actively seek and acknowledge the invaluable insights and expertise of senior specialists and consultants in reshaping the way the hospital delivered specialist services.
He said the new KATH agenda was to make the hospital the most patient-friendly facility in the country through the provision of specialist and sub-specialist services that met and even exceeded the expectations of its clients.
This agenda, he said required a commitment to advancing patient-centered specialized healthcare delivery and operational excellence at the facility, adding that, that could not be achieved without the senior specialists and consultants, since they represented the pillars upon which specialist care were delivered.
Professor Addai-Mensah said management remained committed to creating the right environment for the delivery of enhanced service outputs, through the continued judicious use of its internally generated funds, strategic partnerships with state institutions and philanthropic individuals and organizations.
The hospital was revitalizing its dialysis services by increasing the stock of its machines from barely two last year, to seven now.
The facility was expected additional ones to be installed soon to add up to about 13, through the support of philanthropic organizations.
He said the hospital had now enhanced its specialist services to renal patients who were now able to access dialysis services.
GNA