(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar's national health insurance scheme 'Seha' has expanded its network up to 60 providers since it was launched in July 2013 and would further expand in the coming days.
The National Health Insurance Company (NHIC) yesterday announced Al Jaber Opticians with 20 branches will join the network today with another three optical providers slated to join in the near future.
The NHIC has a target of growing the network to 100 providers by 2014-end.
It is marking one year of caring for the people of Qatar through Seha, with just under 230,000 visits to hospitals and clinics by Qataris seeking treatment under the National Health Insurance Scheme since its launch.
Stage 1 of the scheme was launched on July 17, 2013 providing insurance coverage for Qatari females aged 12 and above for a select set of maternity and women's healthcare services. The scheme has since been expanded to cover all Qataris for the full spectrum of basic healthcare services with the launch of Stage 2 on April 30, 2014.
"The past 12 months have been a tremendous success for the NHIC. The fact that the scheme's roll-out has been smooth and on time is a significant achievement and testament to the country's progress towards realisation of Qatar National Vision 2030 and modernisation of the healthcare sector as envisioned by the National Health Strategy," said Dr Faleh Mohamed Hussain Ali, Acting CEO, NHIC.
Seha was launched with four hospitals - one public and three private - as part of its provider network. Today, scheme members can receive treatment from over 60 network providers.
They include four public hospitals, three private hospitals, 29 clinics and polyclinics, 43 dental providers of which 27 are specialised dental centres and one optical provider with six branches.
The network is open to all healthcare providers in Qatar, both public and private, who wish to join and meet the quality and technical criteria set by NHIC and SCH.
Seha has, over the course of its first year, introduced two disease management programmes as an additional long-term benefit to members, providing information and advice to help people live healthier and more fulfilling lives.
The Maternity Management Programme was introduced in October 2013 during Stage 1 of the scheme, offering women a valuable support system to which they can turn for questions or concerns about their pregnancy.
The Diabetes Management Programme was introduced in May 2014, shortly after the start of Seha's Stage 2. The Diabetes Management Programme has been positively received by Seha members, with 78 percent of those who qualify having opted to enrol in the initiative.
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