By Sola Ogundipe

FOLLOWING its licensing and accreditation  as a National Health Maintenance Organisation, HMO,  Avon Healthcare Limited  has announced a collection of six health plans including a low-priced package designed to accommodate a wide cross section of Nigerians in the bid to ensure adequate coverage of the typical and prevalent ailments found in the country whilst providing quality care at affordable costs.

Presenting the new plans in Lagos, the MD/CEO of Avon HMO, Mrs. Adesimbo Ukiri, stated that the plans will supplement the Organisation’s  existing suite of Health Plans for companies and businesses.

Emphasising the role of Avon in raising quality assurance standards in the health insurance industry, she said the Avon Core plan  priced from as low as  N15,000 per annum, comes on stream in addition to international plans developed for Nigerians who travel frequently and desire peace of mind and assurance of seamless healthcare coverage no matter where they are in the world.

“Avon HMO is able to offer not only its own private health plans, but also the full array of NHIS plans to  individuals, associations communities and governments across all states and regions.

“Our focus on quality assurance is painstaking and we work very closely with provider hospitals to ensure that our enrolled members receive the best care. For instance, Avon HMO Case Managers have scheduled daily visits to hospitals to engage with enrolled members on admission, overseeing the care they receive and providing further assurances; over 75 per cent of all recorded admissions are visited in this manner,” she disclosed.

Already, Avon HMO Care Coordinators are working with  provider hospitals to achieve adherence to agreed disease management protocols and drug formularies to sustain high levels of clinical and pharmacy quality to Avon HMO’s enrolled members.

“We are pleased to state that 98 per cent of our hospitals adhere to the Drug Formulary, thus ensuring that effective drugs are given to our patients. In recognition of the crucial role Provider Hospitals play and their resultant well-deserved right to adequate and effective remuneration, Avon HMO ensures Capitation payments to relevant provider hospitals are paid before the first day of the month and claims are processed and paid within a 30-45 days cycle of receipt.”

Ukiri  noted that HMO’s efforts in the area of customer service and complaints resolution. She explained that Avon HMO has a robust Complaints Resolution Procedure in place, utilizing multiple channels of calls, text, email, BBM and chat through which complaints are received, resolved and confirmation of resolution obtained.

‘’The sector still has a number of challenges which may affect service delivery. However, at Avon HMO, our processes are streamlined and the resolution time for most issues fall within a 5 – 15 minutes window,” Ukiri revealed.

Ukiri remarked that  new health plans is a crucial step in the right direction.

Avon Healthcare Limited (Avon HMO) provides healthcare services at all levels offering a comprehensive line of products and services that cater to the unique needs of enrolees through a network of over 400 hospitals and clinics spread across the 36 states and major local government areas in the country.