By Philip Tengzu

With the MyNHIS APP, clients could access NHIS services including self-registration and renewal, registration, and renewal for third party, NHIS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS), and linking one's Ghana Card to the NHIS card among others without having to travel to the NHIA office.

Mr Oswald Essuah-Mensah, the Acting Director of Corporate Affairs of the NHIA, said this in Wa during a sensitisation workshop for staff of the NHIA in the Upper West Region on its digitization process.

The nationwide sensitisation was to equip the staff with the requisite knowledge of the process to enable them engage key stakeholders and the public.

Mr Essuah-Mensah explained that the NHIA was leveraging technology to enable it meet its goal of helping the country attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by making health services accessible to all irrespective of one's financial status.

He said as at the end of 2021, the NHIS active membership was about 16.7 million people, representing about 54 per cent of the country's population.

"We are on a mission to ensure that as a country we can give at minimum, 80 per cent of access to healthcare to all Ghanaians if not a 100 per cent by the year 2030.

So, NHIA is strategising and leveraging technology to help us to be able to achieve this target we have set for ourselves, he explained.

The NHIA launched the *929# short code in 2018, which allows members to renew their membership as well as link their Ghana Card to the NHIS Card.

Mr Essuah-Mensah said that initiative had seen a meaningful change in the NHIS renewal rate with about 80 per cent of all renewals done through the USSD code.

He explained that the development of the Mobile Application started about a year ago and was expected to be launched

He said: "The application is free to download, very convenient to use and you don't need to pay anybody any money to be able to access the service."

Mr Orison Afflu, the Business System Manager of the NHIA, explained that the "MyNHIS APP" would help improve the cooperate image of the Authority, provide more value to the members, connect with members, and improve member loyalty and feedback.

"Once we introduce the mobile app, we are now going to have a secure way of authenticating our members," he added.

Mr Afflu indicated that the innovation would also lead to the NHIA issuing digital cards to members to be generated on mobile phones.

He indicated that currently, children under 15 years would not be able to register for the NHIS membership using the MyNHIS APP because they did not have the Ghana Card, but said they were exploring ways to bridge that gap.

Mr Samuel Lobber Lekamwe, the Upper West Regional Director of the NHIA, observed that the digitsation of the operations of the authority would lead to convenience in service delivery and access, reduced cost of operation, and job efficiency and effectiveness of the authority.

In a presentation on the active membership in the region, he said as at October 2022, membership was 680,924 out of a target of 742,790, representing 97.1 per cent.

He expressed hope that the launch of the "MyNHIS APP, ", to be complemented by the *929# short code would further boost membership registration and renewal in the region.