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NHIA and USAID sign five-year US$6.7m partnership on digitisation and care quality

Writer: Ghana Insurance Hub
Ghana Insurance Hub
Mar 21, 2023
2 min read

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a five-year partnership in Accra on Monday, 20 March 2023. The programme is aimed at digitising the Authority's systems and improving the quality of care delivered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).


US Ambassador to Ghana Virginia Palmer announced US$5 million in American funding for the programme. The Ghana News Agency (GNA) and Citi Newsroom reported that the NHIA will add US$1.7 million of its own, bringing the total to US$6.7 million over five years. The US Embassy's own release refers only to the US$5 million US commitment.


NHIA chief executive Dr Bernard Okoe Boye attended the signing alongside Deputy Finance Minister Abena Osei-Asare and members of the NHIA management board, according to GNA. Citi Newsroom reported that the agreement is the second phase of cooperation between the two bodies, following a first phase that ended in 2018.


The partners set out the following aims:


  • Digitise NHIA processes and information systems.

  • Make the scheme's performance and financial data available to stakeholders.

  • Build systems to monitor the clinical quality of care at public, faith-based and private facilities.

  • Strengthen the Authority's corporate affairs and information work, according to Citi Newsroom.


Palmer said "the health sector is at the core of Ghana's development", GNA reported. Okoe Boye said clinical data from the programme would help the NHIA argue for better quality of care, and that greater transparency could make the scheme more attractive and raise membership.


Why it matters


Both main strands of the programme, information systems and quality monitoring, bear on how the NHIA verifies and pays provider claims and on how members judge the scheme. The NHIA linked the partnership to Ghana's goal of universal health coverage by 2030, Citi Newsroom reported.


How the funds will be phased across the five years, and which targets the programme will be measured against, were not stated in the reports.


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