Govt must support Dhaman company, says CEO

The CEO of the Health Insurance Hospitals Company “Dhaman” Thamer Arab says Dhaman is a huge health development project that represents an effective partnership between the public and private sectors but requires serious government attention, reports Al-Rai daily.

In a press interview, CEO explained that the project can no longer tolerate any delay after completing its operational requirements.

The government agencies, especially the Ministry of Health, must work on providing aid and support to remove the obstacles facing Dhaman in order to ensure the success of this development project, which will provide services to about two million residents, and positively reflect on improving the quality of health service provided to the citizens.

He explained that for enrolling a resident, the employer, when renewing the residency or issuing a new residency, will apply through the Dhaman website to register his employees, obtain the Dhaman health policy and pay the fees, which applies to the resident who wants to register his family. Therefore, it is not required to register those who currently have valid residency. This means that the transition to the Dhaman system is gradual according to the expiry dates of residency, and large numbers will not be transferred at one time.

With the cooperation of the Ministry of Health, the company will carry out an awareness program in Kuwait. This awareness program will show a plan for the transfer of beneficiaries to Dhaman facilities, service delivery sites and the policies in place so that the process is carried out smoothly. At the same time, Dhaman will develop a vision for implementing the new fee collection mechanism in coodination with the concerned government agencies.

The company has signed a contract with the Spanish health provider Ribera Salud in this regard. The role of the partner is to support Dhaman in operating hospitals and health care centers, in line with the application of the integrated system model for maintaining health (HMO), which Dhaman is applying for the first time in the region. This model requires a global expert who has achieved success in its application. This comes especially since Dhaman will provide primary and secondary health services to about 40 percent of the population, with capabilities that are much less than their counterparts in the Ministry of Health.