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TURNAROUND STRATEGY: Coordinator for the National Health Insurance Task Team in Gauteng Molefi Mosenogi. PHOTO: VELI NHLAPO

In preparation for the National Health Insurance (NHI), R20-million has been set aside to improve revenue collections at Gauteng's four biggest public hospitals.

Molefi Mosenogi, coordinator of the Gauteng NHI Task Team in charge of implementing the pilot project, said the province's four main hospitals - Chris Hani Baragwanath, Steve Biko Academic, Charlotte Maxeke and George Mkhari - had been allocated R5-million each to improve collection of patients' medical fees.

Last year, the department said that their hospitals were owed over R1.5-billion.

Medical aids and other funders owed the department more than R167-million, while other departments and other provinces owed between R4.4-million and R672-million.

"If you go to a private hospital, you will realise that they just punch your details into the computer and they are able to bill you. With us the system is mostly still manual and we end up losing a lot of money. The money will be used to make sure that we have a digital way of collecting revenue," Mosenogi said.

He said facilities in the province needed to be improved for the NHI.

This weekend, Gauteng MEC for health Ntombi Mekgwe announced that the province had been allocated R31.5-million for the pilot project in Pretoria.

Pretoria is one of the 10 pilot sites that are being funded by a R1-billion conditional grant announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan during his Budget Speech.

The sub-districts in Pretoria have a combined population of 848199, which is 31% of the population of the Tshwane district municipality. Roll-out to the rest of the district will be increased over a three-year period.

The first phase of the pilot project will include the refurbishment of Tambo, Mandisa Shiceka, Kekanastadt, Suurman, Dilopy, New Eersterus, Kekana Gardens, Ramotse and Jubilee Gateway clinics, among others.

"The pilot project is aimed at ensuring that staff attitudes change, that clinics have equipment and that all the facilities are in order. In terms of offering care, most of our facilities are in order. We are strengthening the system to see what works and what does not work.

"According to norms and standards, there is supposed to be a clinic every 5km radius but that is not the case in some rural areas, especially in the former Metsweding [district municipality]," Mosenogi said.

He said that when his team visited communities, most patients complained about waiting times at the clinics.

"When we visit our clinics we realise that in terms of care, they meet the criteria but there is still more that needs to be done in terms of facilities," he said.

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Sun May 19 14:50:34 SAST 2013 ::

Apr 24, 2012

kilawea

""""""With us the system is mostly still manual and we end up losing a lot of money. The money will be used to make sure that we have a digital way of collecting revenue," Mosenogi said.""""

....That was the idea of the ANC in he first place, to inflate the bureaucracy with lots of cadres and "create employment" for the union mafia elements as well..........
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Apr 24, 2012

mambaaai

the e toll the first of such systems, by making money out of us just moving around in our country....if they see they can get away with it

the next thing they will use their pension funds to set up electronic systems to make money from is getting s i c k or our s u f f e e r i n
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Apr 24, 2012

ngutha

""""""With us the system is mostly still manual and we end up losing a lot of money. The money will be used to make sure that we have a digital way of collecting revenue," Mosenogi said.""""

....That was the idea of the ANC in he first place, to inflate the bureaucracy with lots of cadres and "create employment" for the union mafia elements as well..........

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...the worst thing is that there are many young people who went to school, studied IT and when they try to apply for government jobs to help with bringing administration professionalism, they are told that there are no vacancies.

So I'm really disappointed in anc, because "unskilled" and "uneducated" deployed cadres are getting first job preference this thus causing serious damage to service in government positions and even, worse they are locking suitable candidates outside!!!

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Apr 24, 2012

BaleliM

How about injecting that money to improve the state of the hospitals?
Once again, why is Gauteng the pilot project on this issue. Is Etoll not enuf?
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Apr 24, 2012

Mdala

Firstly I would love to see an improved quality of service at public health care facilities.
Secondly gov needs to invest in new technology systems.
Thirdly STOP CORRUPTION and you will see improvement in revenue
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Apr 24, 2012

MSG_S

Who is suprised? no one. We knew from the begining that the moneys that were unaccounted for by this departments with their unskilled CEOs and Senior Managers will have to be forked out of tax payers pockets.
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Apr 24, 2012

JajasQueen

Medical aid tarrifs are going to shoot up!

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Apr 24, 2012

Alwayz-happening

@Mdala
Firstly I would love to see an improved quality of service at public health care facilities.
Secondly gov needs to invest in new technology systems.
Thirdly STOP CORRUPTION and you will see improvement in revenue
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100% seconded. They have to augment quality of service they render to the public then revenue enhancement will follow afterwards.
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Apr 24, 2012

sechaba30

I read something that if you earn R80 000 you would be forced to contribute 0.5% of your salary towards NHI and if you earn R300 000 you would contribute 8 %, Zuma wants each and every cents from us.
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Apr 24, 2012

Bhubesi

We are just paying for their incompetence that's all. We also have to remember that the health department was in debt not long ago due to incompetency, so it makes sense that more money is needed to recover the losses incurred from paying off the health debt. So the government as always will not acknowledge their incompetency as the reason behind most economic woes.

From the way it looks, south Africa will become another addition to a long list of poor countries in Africa in no time, if governance is left to the current leadership. We all can see how much a country can deteriorate in just a span of 18 years. Add another 20 years to that and there will be no longer an economy left to be worth talking about. I seems like we are going to become a case study model for bad economic and political policies that should be avoided by all new revolutionary governments in the African region.
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