Medical personnel attend workshop on NHIS

Agroyesum (Ash.), July 26, GNA - About 14 health personnel have attended a three-day training workshop on the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) at the Saint Martin's Catholic Hospital at Manso-Agroyesum in the Amansie West District of Ashanti. The workshop, which was attended by Medical Doctors, Medical Assistants and other health personnel, was aimed at updating their knowledge on the NHIS, which is scheduled to take off in the district on August 1, 2005.

They were taken through Health Care financing in Ghana, the Role of Health Service Providers in the NHIS Implementation, Billing, Preparation of Claims, Quality Assurance and Provider Relationship with the Scheme.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Ben Kwakye Adeefe, the Amansie West District Chief Executive, asked the medical personnel not to place their personal interest above the health needs of the people when the scheme takes off.

He urged Doctors and Medical Assistants who are the service providers to offer quality service to patients and underscored government's commitment to the NHIS for affordable health care. Mr. Joseph Adomako, the District Director of Health Services, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) had put a lot of mechanisms in place to offer quality service at all times when the NHIS takes off.

He called on the District Scheme Secretariat to intensify their education programmes to enable more people to understand the scheme for them to register.

Mr. Adomako also called on the medical personnel to change their attitude to work and provide patients quality service. He announced that the scheme has so far registered 110,000 people, while 3,012 had paid their premium and appealed to the district assembly to provide a permanent vehicle to the secretariat to facilitate their work. July 26 05