UHC Forward: Towards Universal Health Coverage

The National Health Insurance system (NHIS) accredits both service providers and the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) that interface between providers, the NHIS and its beneficiaries. To receive accreditation, health facilities must meet a number of requirements for the physical facility and the personnel, including:

• All medical professionals must be in possession of the current license to practice;
• The facility must be appropriate for service delivery;
• Facility must be registered with state authorities;
• Facility and staff must possess malpractice insurance.

In addition, an accreditation fee is required. Currently 61 HMOs have been accredited and registered by NHIS in addition to about 6,000 primary care providers, 1,000 ancillary providers, and over 600 secondary and tertiary providers. Recently the NHIS announced the suspension of accreditation of new HMOs and providers because there is a need to strengthen the scheme and improve quality of healthcare services delivery through reaccreditation.

In general, the service delivery system in Nigeria is organized on a tiered basis:

• Tertiary facilities are operated by the central government and form the highest level of health care and serve as referral centers for patients;
• Secondary facilities are managed by state governments and provide some specialized health services;
• Primary facilities are run by local governments and provide the most basic entry point to the health care system at health centers, clinics, and dispensaries.

The service delivery system is mixed between private and public providers. The private health care system has grown substantially since the 1980s, to currently provide about 80% of the total health services. This sector, however, is not well regulated or supported. Of all the private facilities in Nigeria, about 50% are for-profit. Despite the large number of service providers, coverage of most key preventative and curative health services is relatively low. There are large disparities in geo-political zones, between rural and urban zones, and with regard to socio-economic status; the poorest fifth of the population are much less likely to receive medical services than their counterparts in the wealthiest 20% of the population.

The Aarogyasri network includes 244 private and 98 public hospitals, all of which must meet specific structural, procedural and pricing requirements. Individuals seeking care approach their nearest in-network health facility, where Aarogya Mithras guide them through the system. If a patient needs further care, they will be given a referral card to the appropriate network hospital(s). Beneficiaries may also seek care and receive referrals at health camps held by in-network hospitals.

As of January 2010, there were a total of 342 hospitals in the network. The principal reason Aarogyasri Trust decided to work with private providers was the lack of resources in the public system. The government has been unable to attract the needed specialists to public facilities, while the private sector has rapidly expanded high quality healthcare services.

A hospital or nursing home in Andhra Pradesh is eligible to be a part of the Aarogyasri network of care, established for indoor medical care and treatment of disease and injuries. The hospital should comply with the following minimum criteria:

• Have at least 50 inpatient medical beds
• Be fully equipped and engaged in providing in-patient medical and surgical facilities along with diagnostic facilities (e.g., pathological tests and X-rays, E.C.G. etc.) for the care and treatment of injured or sick persons
• Have at least one operation theater of its own where surgical operations are carried out
• Have fully qualified nursing staff under its employment 24 hours a day
• Have fully qualified specialist doctor(s) on premises 24 hours a day
• Maintain complete records as required by Aarogyasri on a daily basis and able to provide necessary insured patients’ records to the insurer or his representative as and when required
• Have sufficient experience in the specific identified field
• Agree to deliver the package of services at the rate specified for each identified intervention/surgery as approved by the Trust. The package includes consultation, medicine, diagnostics, implants, food, cost of transportation, and hospital charges, etc. The package price should cover the entire cost of treatment of the patient from date of reporting to discharge from hospital, as well as 10 days after discharge and any complications while in hospital, making the transaction truly cashless to the patient.
• Include the services of a Radiation Oncologist and Medical Oncologist if it desires to be empaneled for Chemo- and Radio-therapies
• Include services of trained ENT Surgeon(s) and Auditory Verbal Therapist(s) if it desires to be empanelled for Cochlear Implant Surgery

All hospitals that qualify to be in-network must sign a memorandum of understanding with the insurance company. This Memorandum is subject to the approval of the Trust. A provision is made in the Memorandum for non-compliance/default; all such matters are looked into by the Trust.

From the perspective of beneficiaries, the path to seeking care is made as simple as possible, as indicated in Figure 1.

• Beneficiaries approach nearby health facility (either public health clinic or area hospital) where an Aarogya Mithra is placed to help beneficiary navigate the health system. Alternatively, the beneficiary can utilize the Aarogyasri 24x7 customer care toll free number (by dialing 1800-474-7788), state’s emergency medical service (by dialing 108), or telemedicine service (by dialing 104) to reach a network hospital. Follow the links for more information on the state’s emergency medical and telemedicine services.
• Beneficiary is seen and diagnosed by a doctor with the support of an Aarogya Mithra to ensure proper care is delivered.
• If beneficiary needs to seek care elsewhere, he/she will be given a referral card to the appropriate network hospital(s)—the beneficiary can select which network hospital they would like to visit for the next step of care.
• Beneficiaries may also attend the Health Camps being conducted by a network hospital in a village and can get the referral card based on the diagnosis done at the Health Camp.