Does mobile renewal make health insurance more responsive to clients? A case study of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana.

Background: In 2018, Ghana's National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) introduced a mobile strategy to enhance re-enrolment and improve client knowledge of their entitlements. This study investigated how Ghana's mobile strategy has influenced the NHIA's responsiveness to clients in terms of patient rights and entitlements, equity and satisfaction with health services.

Methods: We surveyed people (n=1700) in 6 districts who had renewed their insurance in the previous 12 months, using any strategy (mobile or manual).

Role of actor networks in primary health care implementation in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review.

Background: Primary health care (PHC) improvement is often undermined by implementation gaps in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The influence that actor networks might have on the implementation has received little attention up to this point.

Objective: This study sought to offer insights about actor networks and how they support PHC implementation in LMICs.

Associations between the stringency of COVID-19 containment policies and health service disruptions in 10 countries.

Background: Disruptions in essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic have been reported in several countries. Yet, patterns in health service disruption according to country responses remain unclear. In this paper, we investigate associations between the stringency of COVID-19 containment policies and disruptions in 31 health services in 10 low- middle- and high-income countries in 2020.

Tracking health system performance in times of crisis using routine health data: lessons learned from a multicountry consortium.

COVID-19 has prompted the use of readily available administrative data to track health system performance in times of crisis and to monitor disruptions in essential healthcare services. In this commentary we describe our experience working with these data and lessons learned across countries. Since April 2020, the Quality Evidence for Health System Transformation (QuEST) network has used administrative data and routine health information systems (RHIS) to assess health system performance during COVID-19 in Chile, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa, Republic of Korea and Thailand.

COVID-19 and resilience of healthcare systems in ten countries.

Declines in health service use during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could have important effects on population health. In this study, we used an interrupted time series design to assess the immediate effect of the pandemic on 31 health services in two low-income (Ethiopia and Haiti), six middle-income (Ghana, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa and Thailand) and high-income (Chile and South Korea) countries. Despite efforts to maintain health services, disruptions of varying magnitude and duration were found in every country, with no clear patterns by country income group or pandemic intensity.

Community perceptions of enrolment of indigents into the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana: a case study of the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty Programme.

Background: The Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) programme in Ghana as part of its beneficiary programme, identifies the poor/indigents for exemptions from premium payments in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). This paper sought to understand community perceptions of enrolling the poor in the NHIS through LEAP in order to inform policy.

Methods: The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional study design by using a qualitative approach.

Barriers to Quality Care in Medical Imaging at a Teaching Hospital in Ghana: Staff Perspective.

Background: The goal of quality care is to ensure that the health care services provided to individuals and patient populations improve desired health outcomes. However, as medical imaging services increase in Ghana, empirical evidence show a low level of care. Despite this, there exists no study in the public domain on the barriers to quality care.

Quality of Care of Medical Imaging Services at a Teaching Hospital in Ghana: Clients' Perspective.

Background: The Ministry of Health of Ghana is committed to delivering client-focused, quality-driven, and results-oriented medical imaging services. However, there remained a lack of empirical evidence regarding the state of the various dimensions of quality needed to establish evidence-based strategies to strengthen the medical imaging system. This study assessed the quality of care of medical imaging services from clients' perspective at a teaching hospital in order to inform policy.