Health secretary Sicily Kariuki. Her ministry has advocated for
retention of the current NHIF board composition. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- Health facilities to be reviewed on qualifications of the staff, physical location, size, number of patients, specialists and other services on offer.
- The move is part of the process of transforming and repositioning NHIF as a key player in Kenya’s journey towards universal health coverage.
- The insurer pays health facilities according to the number of its members who have chosen them as their preferred facilities.
The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) is set to lose its
power to choose hospitals for card holders in a raft of measures being
put in place ahead of the universal health coverage rollout.
The
accreditation of health facilities will henceforth be undertaken by the
Health ministry working in partnership with the Kenya Medical
Practitioners and Dentist Board (KMPDB), Cabinet Secretary Sicily
Kariuki said.
“We are cleaning up the process of
accrediting facilities because for us it is helpful in achieving
functioning referral mechanisms,” she said.
Review criteria
Ms
Kariuki said health facilities will be reviewed in terms of
qualifications of the staff, physical location, size, number of
patients, specialists and other services on offer.
To
access comprehensive outpatient medical cover at the moment, card
holders and their dependents are required to select a health facility
from the NHIF list of contracted outpatient service providers.
The
facilities are categorised from the lowest, Level One, to the highest,
Level Six, with the five categories being under management of counties.
Level One has community health facilities while Level Two has medical clinics.
Also Read
EconomyKQ boss says merger is the only way out
EconomyJudge warns nurses officials on strike order
In Level Three are health centres while Level Four has full hospitals.
In Level Five are county referral hospitals while national referral facilities fall under Level Six.
Ms
Kariuki said that ceding the accreditation role to the government would
ensure that patients do not rush to national referral hospitals before
going through primary service facilities.
Universal coverage
The
move is part of the process of transforming and repositioning NHIF as a
key player in Kenya’s journey towards universal health coverage.
“NHIF
will move from issues that are peripheral to it including accreditation
of providers and facilities because that work belongs elsewhere,” she
said.
The insurer pays health facilities according to the number of its members who have chosen them as their preferred facilities.
The CS was speaking during the launch of a health financing reforms experts’ panel .
No comments :
Post a Comment