YILO K:Committee presents report on MHIS

A three member committee charged to investigate the operation and activities of the Yilo Krobo Mutual Health Insurance Scheme and suggest possible recommendations to help improve the scheme has put forward four recommendations to help improve the fortunes of the scheme.

The committee which comprised Dr. Akosua Owusu, Municipal Director of Health Service (chairman), Mr. E. Kwaku Mensah, Municipal Coordinating Director, and Mr. J. A. Appertey chairman, Social Services Sub-Committee, recommended that:

1. Management should institute ways and a clear machinery to help them interrelate well to enhance the performance of their work.

2. Assembly Members need to be encouraged to make follow up contacts with the Health Insurance Scheme to establish the facts about issues raised by their electorates prior to registering complaints to the Municipal Assembly.

3. Management training should be organized for manager and other management staff to enhance their managerial and leadership skills and Measures should be put in place to intensify publicity concerning the scheme and its operations.

The work of the committee became necessary following complaints of general unsatisfactory delivery of services rendered by the scheme especially on the terms of client’s receipt of identification cards.

The committee found out among other things that individual heads of department were well vest in their main areas of work especially the main line officers including the accountant, the Public Relations Officer, the Claims Officer and the Management Information Systems Officer.

The committee also observed a weak interconnectivity and linkage between the various departments which retarded the overall output of the scheme. It noted that, for the scheme to be effective, the roles and activities of the various departments need to well interconnected and knit into a fine system such that the overall performance of the scheme would depend on the effective performance by all the units.

Other findings made were the fact that management of the scheme were not holding frequent management meetings to address issues that may come up in the process of discharging their duties. It also observed some levels of inconsistencies in the opinions of the various heads of departments and that of the scheme manager when the committee met on a separate forum with the heads of departments and the scheme Manager.

The committee therefore expressed optimism that when the recommendations are implemented it would improve the performance of the scheme.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanadistricts.com