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News : Local Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


NHI Physician Provider Registration to Begin January 2017
By National Health Insurance (NHI)
Dec 16, 2016 - 2:27:52 PM

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Nassau, The Bahamas – Today, the NHI Secretariat launched the “NHI Ready” campaign, which promotes continued registration and encourages Bahamians to prepare for Phase 2 of NHI Bahamas: enrolment. It is in this phase when Bahamians can choose their primary care doctor from a list of registered and certified primary care physician providers, from the public or private sector.

The Secretariat also announced that physician registration begins in January 2017, marking a critical milestone in the implementation timeline of NHI Bahamas. Once the registration process for physicians is well underway, Phase 2 of enrolment will begin for NHI Bahamas. Primary Care services – phase 3 – will follow closely thereafter.


We have made great strides this year all leading up to the start of the next phase in bringing modern, affordable and accessible health care for all Bahamians and we want everyone to be NHI Ready in 2017. The most important prerequisite to being NHI Ready for enrolment is to have your NIB Smart Card.

Peter Deveaux-Isaacs, Permanent Secretary, National Health Insurance Secretariat

To date, more than 240,000 Bahamians have their Smart Card and are NHI Ready. However, there remains approximately 100,000 Bahamians who do not have their card yet, but there is still time. That is why the Secretariat has launched the NHI Ready campaign, to ensure all Bahamians are prepared for when enrolment begins and they are able to choose their doctor and receive primary health care services free of cost at point of care.

“The same way we are encouraging legal Bahamian residents to be NHI Ready for enrolment, we also encourage primary health care providers to be NHI Ready, and ensure they are educated on the process of becoming a NHI Bahamas certified provider,” said Dr. Delon Brennen, NHI Project Manager.

Last week, the NHI Secretariat hosted information sessions in Nassau, Grand Bahama and Abaco with primary care physicians. Feedback from physicians has been positive and many are excited to register and provide services to Bahamians in need under NHI Bahamas. In fact, through an exit survey taken by physicians at the end of last week’s information sessions, more than 60% of physicians who attended indicated they plan to sign on as providers under NHI Bahamas when registration begins in January 2017.

The information sessions focused on presenting the various payment mechanisms – including fee-for-service and capitation models – to primary care providers, as well as providing them information on how to sign up as a registered and certified primary care physician provider under the NHI Bahamas plan in January.

The reimbursement model has been designed according to what The Bahamas can afford as a country and is in alignment with international best practices. In addition, the quality of care for patients has been at the centre of focus during the development of the NHI Bahamas reimbursement model, and a number of controls have been put in place to improve quality of care for all NHI Bahamas beneficiaries, such as setting a maximum limit on the number of patients a full-time physician can have to ensure they spend a sufficient amount of time with each patient. The Government is committed to rolling out NHI Bahamas in a responsible manner, and has consulted extensively with many stakeholders to make sure this is the right model and system for The Bahamas.

The NHI Secretariat will continue to support Bahamians to ensure they are NHI Ready. Closer to the start of Phase 2, the Secretariat will be working to educate the public on the specifics and details of what exactly is included in the final NHI Bahamas Primary Care Benefits Package as well as how, when and where to enrol.

All of these activities will bring The Bahamas closer to achieving a health care system that is modern, affordable and accessible.

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