GHS Trains Health Insurance Coordinators for Free Primary Healthcare Rollout

The Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Caroline Reindorf Amissah, has officially opened a pre-implementation capacity building workshop for Health Insurance Coordinators, describing it as a critical step towards the successful rollout of Ghana’s Free Primary Healthcare (FPHC) initiative.

The workshop, organised by the Health Insurance Coordinating Unit of the Ghana Health Service, under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), brought together NHIS focal persons from all 16 regions, officials from the Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division of GHS, National Health Insurance Authority and World Health Organisation.

Delivering her opening remarks, Dr. Reindorf Amissah noted that although primary healthcare remains the core mandate of the Ghana Health Service, the new FPHC initiative introduces a renewed focus on preventive care, wellness promotion, and community-based service delivery.

She indicated that the initiative, which is expected to be launched by the President of Ghana, will be implemented in phases, with 160 districts earmarked for the first phase. According to her, while the existing health system will be maintained, adjustments will be made to align with the new approach.

“This initiative compels us to reorient our service delivery towards prevention and early detection, while ensuring that our communities are at the centre of care,” she stated.

The Deputy Director-General further urged participants to engage actively and contribute meaningfully to discussions, stressing that their role as coordinators would be crucial in ensuring a smooth and effective implementation across all regions.

In a goodwill message, the Lead for Health Financing at the World Health Organization, Dr. Adwoa Twum-Barimah, speaking on behalf of the organization underscored the importance of clear, consistent and coordinated communication of the Free Primary Healthcare policy across all levels of the health system.

She further encouraged participants to cascade knowledge and lessons learnt from the workshop to their colleagues in the regions to ensure uniform understanding and implementation nationwide.

The Head of the Health Insurance Coordination Unit (HICU)of the Service, Dr. Peter Darkwa Gyasi, highlighted the strategic importance of aligning the Free Primary Healthcare initiative with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

He noted that while NHIS continues to play a central role in healthcare financing, there are operational challenges that must be addressed to support the new initiative.

Dr Gyasi further observed that the quality of claims at the CHPS level remains a concern, attributing partly to the lack of designated staff to manage claims processes.

He, therefore, called for strengthened capacity and accountability mechanisms to improve efficiency within the system.

Participants at the workshop were taken through detailed presentations on the Free Primary Healthcare policy, a live demonstration on the implementation of the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS), to familiarize them with the newly introduced platform and address emerging operational concerns and also provided an opportunity for participants to seek clarification on system functionality, data management processes and reporting requirements through interactive engagements.

Participants were further provided with guidance on implementation arrangements such as institutional roles, referral pathways, logistics, human resource considerations, and the use of existing digital health systems, while clarifying the financing approach, including value-based and population-based payment models for preventive services.

Additional emphasis was also placed on managing public expectations and ensuring a common understanding of what “free healthcare” entails, with participants expected to replicate knowledge gained to support implementation across their respective regions and districts.

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