[ 2015-08-10 ]

Private Doctors To Revert To Cash And Carry In Two Weeks If…
Members of the Society of Private Medical and
Dental Practitioners of Ghana have given the
National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) a two
weeks ultimatum to pay their six months
outstanding claims or they would turn down
patients with NHIA cards.

The president of the society, Dr Kwasi
Odoi-Agyarko, said logistics of the 300 private
hospitals under the scheme could only last for a
week and would, therefore, not risk continuing to
pre-finance.

He told a press conference in Kumasi on Sunday
that much as it was against their wish to
exacerbate the already precarious situation of
patients following the nation-wide strike action
by the Ghana Medical Association, it would have no
choice to revert to the cash and carry regime if
the NHIA failed to honour its part of the
contract.

The society said it has lost faith in government
because of its apparent inconsistency in dealing
with them.

“Low tariffs for services and medicines paid by
the NHIA may be acceptable to public sector
facilities because the majority of their overheads
are borne by the government. The running cost of
private health facility keeps increasing and the
low tariffs cannot sustain operations in the
private sector,’ Dr Odoi-Agyarko said.

It urged the authority to fast track the review
process of the tariff since the current rate did
not reflect the current economic situation.

In that regard, the society is advocating for a
periodic six months upward review to meet the
rising cost of operation.

The press conference was the climax of the
society’s four-day 37th AGM under the theme:
‘Ethics and Medico-Legal issues in Medical
practice.’

The AGM focused on a myriad of areas under their
practice especially the patients’ charter as
well as their responsibility, emphasising that
patients’ information remained confidential and
could not be divulged without their consent or a
court order.

It urged doctors to be aware of and be guided by
professional ethics in their behaviours and
practices.

Source - Daily Graphic

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