Community pharmacists engage NHIA to provide services under NHIS

The Community Practice Pharmacists Association (CPPA) is engaging with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) for some 1,000 community pharmacies across the country to provide services under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)

The collaborative effort will align with the NHIA’s objectives and contribute to the overarching goal of universal health insurance coverage.

Mr Emmanuel Kwaku Ireland, Chairman of the CPPA, said during a virtual meeting with the NHIA that the engagement would aid financial risk protection against the cost of quality basic healthcare for Ghanaians.

That, he said would  ensure that the public got access to prescribed medications listed under the NHIS in addition to proper education on medicine doses.

“The collaboration would also enhance access to quality healthcare by creating a sustainable, progressive, and equitable social health insurance to the persons covered by the Scheme,” Dr Ireland said.

Dr Yaa Pokuaa Baiden, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NHIA, said as at the end of 2023, 140 pharmacies out of about 5,300 across the country had enrolled to provide services under the NHIS.

She expressed concern about the low numbers and encouraged more pharmacies to collaborate and work with the Scheme, stating that the payment of claims by the Scheme had improved since 2020.

Dr Baiden said the Authority would continuously work in collaboration with relevant agencies especially those involved in Ghana’s health delivery system by granting credentials to facilities, undertaking service utilisation reviews and technology assessments.

She urged healthcare providers to submit claims for services provided to members of the NHIS to the Authority within 90 days of providing the services to avoid delay of payment.

“Claims generation, submission and processing have been enhanced with the complete migration to online processes at all stages, thereby improving claims payments,” she said.

She called on pharmacists to join the global journey towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), saying, “Pharmacist have a very essential role to play in attaining UHC nobody else can fill that space for us”.

Source: GNA