Medical superintendents press NHIA to pay claims held up by the GHIMS switch
The Medical Superintendents Group has asked the government and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to release money owed to hospitals for National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) services, saying claims held up by the move to the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS) are straining facilities. The group's national president, Dr Eric Sarpong-Ntiamoah, made the appeal at its 24th Annual General and Scientific Conference in Ho, Volta Region, GhanaWeb reported on 27 October 2026.
Dr Sarpong-Ntiamoah said some facilities have two to four months of claims outstanding because the change of health information systems disrupted claims reporting. He asked the NHIA to reimburse claims that hospitals have already submitted, and asked the Minister for Finance, through the Minister for Health and the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, to help speed up payment.
He proposed a technical working group of the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, the GHIMS technical team and the superintendents to resolve the remaining system faults. He also objected to proposals to exclude hernia and caesarean procedures from insurance reimbursement at polyclinics.
The group raised the problem with the NHIA earlier in the year. TechFocus24 reported on 11 June 2026 that, during a visit to the NHIA head office, Dr Sarpong-Ntiamoah said the migration from the Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS) to GHIMS had left some facilities unable to submit claims for certain periods. NHIA Chief Executive Dr Victor Asare Bampoe said at the time that the Authority had considered compensating affected facilities on the basis of their average past claims, and that its Governing Board had approved the idea. Consultations with the Ministries of Health and Finance, however, found that Public Financial Management regulations do not allow payment without verifiable evidence that services were provided.
Separately, GhanaWeb, citing Starr FM, reported on 7 October 2026 that the NHIA paid GH¢382.85 million in claims for services provided in September, bringing its claims payments for 2026 to GH¢2.115 billion.
The appeal turns on claims that hospitals say they could not record or submit during the system change. The position reported in June was that public finance rules block payment without records of the services.
Sources
GhanaWeb, 27 October 2026: Medical superintendents appeal for payment of GHIMS-locked claims
TechFocus24, 11 June 2026: Medical superintendents raise claims, tariff concerns with NHIA amid GHIMS transition
GhanaWeb (from Starr FM), 7 October 2026: NHIA disburses GH¢382.85m to healthcare providers as 2026 claims hit GH¢2.115bn
Comments