As part of initiatives to increase sustainability and efficiency in the health sector, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, has alluded to the government’s impending privatisation of the nation’s hospital equipment procurement, management, and maintenance.
During the 2nd Annual Scientific Conference of the Medical Superintendents Group in Abetifi-Kwahu on Tuesday, October 14, the Minister stated that the new model will enable government health professionals to operate medical devices for health facilities while private organisations with direct connections to equipment manufacturers supply, maintain, and manage them.
“We know standard equipment for each regional hospital and we know standard equipment for each Teaching hospital. And therefore, we’ll float it. So, people who are interested and they have direct relationships with manufacturers of equipment, would then bid to go through the processes. We dedicate, let’s say, Juaboso District Hospital for you. You put all the equipments there”. He said.
He added, ” When the equipments are faulty, you will fix them. You monitor them. But our health workers will run the equipments. That is how we are going to pay them. So that equipment will not be the challenge for government. So they will run the equipment, but you will be doing the labs and what have you”.
The Minister also said that by reorganising the current claims system, payments to vendors will be made via the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
“This is how we are going to pay them. We have realised that the claims you submit to National Health Insurance has three main components. The services, the consulting, the medications and the diagnosis. I hope I’m not lying. Very good. If that is the case, we are going to take out diagnosis aspect. And so therefore, we’ll pay the vendor who has placed the equipment in the facilities and will not tolerate that I don’t have the capacity to put this equipment there”.
He stated that the suggested concept would include a profit-sharing structure.
“Again, I’ll be quick to add that there will be a certain level of profit sharing arrangement with the facilities. These are things we are considering. We have to use our brains”.
According to Mr. Akandoh, the new strategy aims to provide regular maintenance to ensure high-quality healthcare service and to eradicate ongoing equipment shortages and malfunctions.
“Government buying equipment all the time is not sustainable. We must think differently. Criticisms are welcome, but we must innovate if we want better results,” he remarked.
Health Minister Mintah Akandoh addressed the country’s lack of adequate dialysis equipment by stating that the government is currently using a “equipment placement” model to outsource the supply and maintenance of dialysis equipment, starting with all Teaching and Regional Hospitals nationwide.
“What we are, government is doing is that we are outsourcing and doing what we call equipment placement. We have advertised it, 47 companies have applied, we are doing the shortlisting and by the close of next week, we will conclude on which companies we will deal with. So we will divide the whole country into lots. To start with, we are going to start with the regional hospitals and the teaching hospitals”.
Under the new approach, he continued, vendors will supply chemicals and maintain dialysis machines, while medical experts will run them. After then, NHIS tariffs will be used to make payments.
“So what we will do is that you put your equipment at the facility, you maintain them, you buy your own reagents, our health professionals will run the equipment and then the national health insurance will pay you for the tariffs. Truth be told, government buying equipment all the time is not sustainable. That is the gospel truth. And you know, in some cases we have heard that the breakages we record in some of these health facilities are deliberate”.
Source: newsthemegh.com