Stakeholders in the National Health Insurance programme of the Federal Government, have been urged to engage in close collaboration to address some of the challenges preventing enrollees from receiving qualitative healthcare through the initiative.
This call was made by speakers at a forum in Lagos, for regulators, healthcare providers and enrollees, organised by SUNU Health Nigeria Limited, one of the Health Maintenance Organisations, HMOs, under the Health Insurance Programme.
In a paper entitled , “The business of healthcare: collaborating to build a better Healthcare System”, a guest lecturer, Dr. Richard Kalada noted that most of the identified issues militating against the seamless delivery of qualitative services to enrollees, under the National Health Insurance programme, would be resolved if the stakeholders work together as one.
Dr. Kalada said in addition to collaboration, healthcare providers must be intentional about improving upon the services rendered to their patients, as this would attract more patronage.
The Guest lecturer who is the Registrar and CEO , Institute of Healthcare Finance and Management, also urged healthcare providers to look beyond just diagnosis and drug prescribing to providing holistic services both medically and emotionally to patients.
He said, “Today, we talk about the six pillars of lifestyle. One of which is social connectedness.The other one is mental health. We have to be able to look at the enrollee, the patient holistically. We are talking about treating the whole person. The way you handle the enrollee can affect his mental state”.
Dr. Kalada advised that in rendering care to enrollees, health personnel need to be timely and responsive to the demands of patients, taking decisions in their best interest and ensuring that every care provided is evidence based.
Another lecturer , Dr Aikpokpo Usifo, who is the Head Quality Assurance and Network at SUNU Health Nigeria said that as part of measures to enhance delivery, healthcare providers must allign their operations based on prescribed guidelines.
Dr. Usifo charged medical practitioners to live above board and uphold their professional ethics, and not driven by monetary gains.
“For those of us who see how things are done abroad, people there are not better than we are. In fact, a lot of the doctors who work there are Nigerians.
So if they can do it and make the system better, then why can’t we do the same?
” There are guidelines, there are processes. If they follow it, they do well. If we follow it, we also will do well”, he noted
In an address of welcome, the CEO, SUNU Health Nigeria, Dr. Patrick Korie Chukwuemeka noted that the forum was timely to iron out all grey areas for improved healthcare delivery in line with the objectives of the national health insurance Programme, which is mandatory for all Nigerians.
The SUNU boss promised that all the issues raised would be attended to as he also stressed the need for collaboration among stakeholders.
Some enrollees from different public sector organisations called on the National Health Insurance Authority, (NHIA) as the regulator to stamp its feet on the ground and make the initiative more functional, by reducing waiting time before receiving care at health facilities and at a reduced cost.
The event was also attended by NHIA representatives from Lagos and Ogun States, who assured Nigerians that everything was being done to make the national health insurance programme function better.
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