The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) will from this year begin an exercise to make savings of at least four million Ghana cedis by cutting out the use of paper in the subscriber registration process.

Records from last year show that the NHIA expended close to four million cedis on photocopying registration forms alone.

However, Chief Executive of the NHIA, Nathaniel Otoo, on a tour of some regional and district offices of the Scheme observed that the process of filling the registration form before being inputted into the system by NHIA data entry officers could be cut out potentially saving the Scheme about four million cedis on cost of paper alone.

Addressing regional and district officers of the NHIA in the Eastern region on Friday, Mr Otoo informed his staff that the Authority has decided to eliminate the step of filling out subscriber details on a form from the registration process.

The Chief Executive explained that instead of using these forms, data can be inputted directly into the system while the registrant cross-checks and validates the information on the screen before a card is subsequently printed. Mr Otoo further mentioned that staff who will be freed up as a result will be assigned other roles within the Authority.

If all the 10.54 million people on the Scheme, according to NHIA sources, were to go through the same process of form filling and membership renewal every year, considering that photocopy of each form costs 50 pesewas, this means over four million is spent on these registration forms alone.

According to Mr Otoo, the resulting savings could be channeled into other areas of need.

Mr Otoo met with all core district staff of the NHIA acknowledging their hardwork over the period and challenging them to do more. According to him, the efforts of the staff have yielded impressive results.

“We think what you do every day is remarkable. Every one of you is working hard and contributing to the NHIA’s mission – and we’re seeing results.

“We are providing access to healthcare for millions of Ghanaians, we are helping to improve our members’ NHIS experience, we are helping to contain costs, we are educating the population on the NHIS, we are providing critical success for the implementation of new initiatives. So thank you for making a difference,” the NHIA chief observed.

He mentioned that the NHIS has evolved and seen a lot of improvement over the period of its existence.

He attributed the fact that the NHIS card has become one of the most valuable cards in the country to the ingenuity and commitment staff have attached to their duties.

Notwithstanding the accomplishments, Mr Otoo said financial sustainability owing to improved access and utilization of the healthcare on account of the scheme remained the greatest challenge of NHIS. But he expressed confidence that a number of initiatives and deliberations ongoing will help surmount this challenge.

Eastern regional director of the NHIA Alhaji Abudu Seidu said the Eastern regional office of the NHIA will continue to work hard to ensure the scheme grows and achieve its objectives.