The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has inaugurated a Claims Payment Software to facilitate the smooth and early payment of claims to service providers.
The move comes at a time when the scheme is being challenged by threats of boycott by some service providers over delays in payment of their claims.
Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate the software on Tuesday, the Chief Executive of the NHIA, Nathaniel Otoo said the software will revolutionize the payment system and improve service delivery at health facilities.
“This new application that we are doing takes into account the context of the country so it’s not going to be an only system, online is part of it but we have other means, you can bring the claims on a pen drive. We have very flexible ways in which the claims will be submitted.”
“The benefits of a Claim IT system will be a reduction in the financial cost of claims generation and submission, Reduction in claim errors, improve claims processing turnaround time and reduction in terms of claims storage.”
He said the NHIA had volumes of documents and other information it kept, that require proper storage for subsequent use and reference.
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Ebenezer Appiah Denkyira who was also at the ceremony described the introduction of the software as a big leap forward in the operations of the scheme in the country.
He expressed optimism the software will help reduce the incident of rejection of NHIS claims from service providers for errors on them.
He said he was confident the new software will tackle the incident of fraud within National Health Insurance system.
“This software will solve a lot of problems. For us it will reduce the number of rejections that come in, which means that form now people will be particular that if you see a patient, you ensure that you submit the right type of claims; not beyond or below and also to ensure that at the level of care you prescribe what is demanded of you. It will always ensure that that gatekeeper system works.”
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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