GHIMS: digital reform without demonstrated readiness?

Professor Dr Dr Otchere Addai-Mensah, Department of Medical Diagnostics, College of Health Sciences, KNUST.

In his interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV on Monday, 19 October 2026, the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, described the performance of the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS) as satisfactory, characterising its problems as a few glitches common to new software.

That reassuring characterisation, however, sits uneasily with reports of disrupted clinical operations, inaccessible patient records and financial losses suffered by hospitals following the transition from LHIMS.

These are not necessarily routine software glitches; they are potential failures of public infrastructure with clinical and financial consequences.

The objective of reducing vendor dependence and securing state control over Ghana’s health data was legitimate.

But digital sovereignty without operational competence is an expensive illusion.

A state-owned system that cannot reliably retrieve patient histories, support clinical workflows or exchange information across facilities has not necessarily improved healthcare; it has merely changed the ownership of the problem.

The transition raises fundamental questions about technical readiness, data integrity and governance. Were adequate testing, data migration, staff training and contingency arrangements completed before implementation?

Which patient records remain inaccessible, which have been lost, and what recovery mechanisms exist?

These questions require independently verified answers, not political assurances.

The financial implications are equally troubling.

Reports of NHIS claims stranded or lost during the transition have exposed hospitals to revenue shortfalls arising from difficulties documenting and validating services already delivered.

At Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and other affected facilities, such losses have undermined cash flow, constrained the procurement of medicines and essential supplies, and ultimately affected patient care.

In June 2026, the National Health Insurance Authority acknowledged legal constraints on reimbursing facilities without verifiable evidence of services rendered.

When hospitals deliver care but cannot recover legitimate revenue because of a system transition, the cost of administrative failure is transferred to patients and taxpayers.

The financial scrutiny should not end there. The reported US$77 million paid under the former LHIMS contract is a separate matter from hospital revenue lost during the transition.

Both require transparent accounting.

The public deserves a complete disclosure of GHIMS procurement and implementation costs, the technical justification for replacing LHIMS, the contractual arrangements, and the financial losses attributable to the migration.

The fact that LHIMS had deficiencies does not establish that GHIMS was ready to replace it.

A successor must demonstrate that it corrects the predecessor’s weaknesses rather than reproduce them under a different name.

That demonstration must rest on independently verified performance, clinical safety, data integrity and financial sustainability.

The time for assurances is over; the time for an independent audit is now.

GHIMS requires a comprehensive, independent technical, clinical and financial audit, with the findings published and every substantiated loss, compromised record and failure of accountability addressed.

The audit must establish what works, what has failed, how much public money has been lost and who is responsible.

Digital transformation is not achieved by announcing a replacement.

It is achieved by demonstrating that the replacement works.

In healthcare, the ultimate test is not who owns the software, but whether it reliably serves patients without exposing hospitals to avoidable clinical and financial harm.

Until that test is independently satisfied, the transition to GHIMS remains an unresolved question of public accountability, not a reform whose success can simply be declared.

The Horns of the Altar!

Prof. Dr.rer.nat Dr.med. Otchere Addai-Mensah

Dept. Of Medical Diagnostics, College of Health Sciences , KNUST