PharmAccess is a group of non-profit organizations dedicated to improving access to quality healthcare in Africa. PharmAccess mobilizes public and private resources for the benefit of doctors and patients through clinical standards and quality improvements, loans for healthcare providers, health insurance, mHealth innovations and operational research.
This integrated approach is made possible by the following organizations:
Ghana’s National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Partners with PharmAccess on data analytics to strengthen NHIA’s capacity and stimulate its ambition as a data-driven health insurer.
Ghana has firmly established its position as a front-runner regarding access to healthcare in Africa; being one of the first sub-Saharan African countries to introduce a national health insurance scheme in 2003. In 2020 the NHIA had 15, 979,874 annual active members representing about 50% of Ghana’s population. Despite the Government of Ghana’s to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030, barriers to NHIA as a model for UHC realization continue to exist.
What problem are we addressing?
NHIA’s challenges include ensuring financial sustainability (particularly the challenge of funding as almost 70% of members do not contribute premiums), operational difficulties including delayed claims processing and compensation and inadequate population coverage. Leveraging data-based insights have proven to be transformative across industries. Creating value from data will support the NHIA in improving its decision-making on long-term sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness of operations, enhancing the quality of care, mobilizing additional resources and informed policymaking.
How are we addressing the problem?
PharmAccess provides technical assistance (e.g., capacity building, advice, and data analytics) to make the NHIA a data-driven insurer and knowledge institute that capitalizes on the disruptive potential of technology to create value out of its own data. Three years of NHIA membership data (2017-2019) has already been analyzed and the key insights shared with NHIA management and board and key stakeholders including the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, and health sector development partners for management decision-making and policy development.
PharmAccess has been requested to assist with the analysis of three years of NHIA claims data to generate policy briefs and research publications based on key insights from the analysis. The policy briefs will serve as tools for institutional transformation whiles the research publications provide opportunities for the NHIA to share its valuable learnings as a global public good with other countries embarking on the UHC 2030 Agenda.
