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Report by Edward FRIMPONG
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening health data systems through its ongoing collaboration with NHS England.
This partnership, launched two years ago, has become a crucial platform for knowledge exchange, focusing on strategic health purchasing, data analytics, and evaluating the impact of investments in healthcare.
Speaking at the opening of a week-long NHIA–NHS England Collaborative knowledge-sharing workshop on data analytics and governance in Accra, Dr. Senanu Kwesi Djokoto, Deputy Chief Executive, Operations at NHIA, emphasised the importance of data analytics in shaping policy and enhancing healthcare delivery.
The five-day workshop brought together 20 participants, including Directors and senior staff from various directorates such as Actuarial, Corporate Affairs, MIS, Strategic Health Purchasing, and the Co-payment Taskforce, among others, who have been selected to participate in the workshop.
The course outline aims to ensure analysts can effectively communicate to and between technical and non-technical stakeholders and facilitate discussions within a multidisciplinary team with some potentially difficult dynamics; ensure analysts can deploy problem-solving skills to define requirements for analytical work and enable analysts to evaluate services effectively, identify areas for improvement, and measure outcomes, among other things; and ensure analysts can deploy problem-solving skills to define requirements for analytical work and enable analysts to evaluate services effectively, identify areas for improvement, and measure outcomes.
Dr Dzokoto outlined key NHIA policy priorities that the collaboration sought to advance, including optimising costing processes to eliminate out-of-pocket payments, strengthening evidence-based decision-making, and developing robust indicators for sustainable health funding.
“This initiative is fully aligned with the vision of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, who has committed to two groundbreaking interventions: Free Primary Health Care and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (Mahama Cares to address complications arising from chronic diseases,” Dr. Dzokoto said.
He said a major focus of this year’s exchange program is the digitisation of NHIA’s operations, which aims to harness the full potential of health data through robust governance frameworks and a state-of-the-art Business Intelligence platform.
Dr. Dzokoto highlighted the invaluable expertise of NHS England in supporting NHIA’s data transformation agenda.
“Our collaboration has already yielded significant progress in strategic purchasing, and with this week’s focus on data analytics, I am confident that we will deepen our achievements even further,” he noted. He also emphasized the need for enhanced cross-system collaboration within Ghana’s broader health sector to ensure a more integrated and efficient healthcare system,” he said.
Dr. Dzokoto expressed his gratitude to NHS England for its unwavering support over the past two years, underscoring the importance of strategic alignment in Ghana’s health system development. The event continues throughout the week, offering participants an opportunity to build technical skills, forge partnerships, and drive healthcare innovation in Ghana.
“Our aim is to harness the full potential of our data to build a more efficient, transparent, and data-driven NHIS,” he stated, stressing that the contributions and expertise of the participants would be critical to achieving this goal.
He called for enhanced collaboration across Ghana’s broader health sector, underscoring that collective action is necessary to drive innovation and achieve Universal Health Coverage.
Dr Dzokoto mentioned other key NHIA policies the Acting Chief Executive has often articulated, which focus on: optimizing costing and tariff processes to eliminate out-of-pocket payments by NHIS members; enhancing the use of data and analytics for evidence-based decision-making; developing strong indicators for sustainable funding of preventive health services; and strengthening public engagement to keep the NHIS responsive and inclusive.
He emphasized that these priorities align fully with President John Dramani Mahama’s vision. He has committed to two transformative health interventions—the provision of Free Primary Health Care and the establishment of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund—to help Ghana achieve Universal Health Coverage.
“Our Chief Executive, Dr. Victor Asare Bampoe, has articulated on multiple platforms the key NHIA policy priorities that this collaboration seeks to advance: Optimization of costing and tariff derivation processes to eliminate the need for out-of-pocket payments by NHIS members; Enhanced use of data and analytics to strengthen evidence-based decision-making; Development of robust indicators to support sustainable funding for preventive and promotive health services; and Strengthening public engagement and participation to ensure the NHIS remains responsive and inclusive,” he said.
Emily Carey, Senior Health Systems Adviser with the NHS Consortium for Global Health, said the significant collaboration between the NHS and the NHIA, which began in 2023, focuses on three key work streams: strategic purchasing, data analytics and governance, and developing annual health checks indicators.
“The current focus is on data analytics and governance, with the goal of building capacity and solutions between the NHS England team and the NHIA,” she said.
She explained that this collaboration aims to improve efficiency by utilising data to make better decisions and strengthen data analytics and governance processes in the NHIA.
“Specifically, the partnership will explore predictive models of data and how to leverage NHIA’s data to inform decision-making. This collaboration is expected to improve efficiency and strengthen the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
“The partnership is seen as the start of a long-term journey between the NHS and the NHIA, with both parties working together to build solutions and address challenges in data analytics and governance,” she said.
Magnus Owusu-Agyemang, Director of Actuarial at NHIA, said the Authority was set to benefit significantly from NHS England’s expertise as part of an ongoing collaboration focused on data analytics and strategic health purchasing.
He expressed optimism about the knowledge-sharing process, highlighting the wealth of experience that Emily and her team bring to the exchange.
“This collaboration is certainly going to improve our work. Emily and her team have rich experience and knowledge, which they will share with us. My team is eager to learn, participate, and contribute as much as possible within the available time.”
“As discussions unfold, NHIA aims to leverage advanced analytics to enhance evidence-based decision-making and optimize Ghana’s health financing framework. The knowledge exchange continues throughout the week, fostering innovation and strengthening health system efficiency,” he said.
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