Source: newsthemegh.com/NHIS Ghana
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and the Pharmacy Council engaged stakeholders in Kumasi to discuss the deployment of the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform (NEPP).
This platform aims to streamline pharmaceutical services and ensure efficient medication management within the healthcare system.
In his opening remarks, the Registrar of the Pharmacy Council, Dr. Daniel Amaning Danquah reiterated the significant benefits that the NEPP platform will provide to healthcare facilities, patients, and decision makers in the health sector. He encouraged all the participants, comprising mostly hospital administrators and pharmacists, to engage positively and offer feedback to enrich the system.
On his part, the NHIA Director, Corporate Affairs re-echoed the NHIA’s ultimate goal in achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and informed the audience of steps that the Authority is taking to achieve this. He expressed optimism that NEPP would enhance member experience at service delivery point and has the potential to curb illegal charges demanded from members as the platform would provide easy access to medications at approved rates thereby creating a situation where medications on the NHIS Medicines List will be dispensed at no extra cost to the member or patient.
Presentations were provided, by Mr. Emmanuel Dedume Jimmy from Info Jams Solutions, technical partners of the Pharmacy Council, and Mr. Ebenezer Hooper, a senior manager, MIS NHIA, and the project manager. Participants also had the chance to ask pertinent questions and provided feedback on the sessions.
The stakeholders’ meeting focused on the benefits, implementation strategies, and potential challenges of the platform.
The NEPP is expected to enhance the accessibility and quality of pharmacy services across the country by integrating electronic health records and facilitating better communication among healthcare providers.
So far, 78% of pharmacists practising in Ghana have been trained. Initial engagements with over 500 prescribers in both Greater Accra and Kumasi were successfully conducted alongside a good number of hospital administrators. The ongoing phase one national rollout is currently taking place in Ashanti, Eastern, Western, Volta, and Central Regions in Public Healthcare Providers.
The only major concern raised during the region kickoffs with the stakeholders was that the number of NHIA-credentialed Community Pharmacies across the country needs to be increased to receive prescriptions to serve NHIS members. From the record, as indicated by the Registrar of Pharmacy Council, NHIA has less than 150 credentialed pharmacies across the country. The registrar indicated the willingness to support the NHIA by way of facilitating to bring onboard community pharmacies to serve NHIA members.