3.2 Reasons for not selecting an NHIF-contracted outpatient facility
Several reasons were highlighted for those that had not yet selected an outpatient facility. First, these members, particularly those from rural settings, expressed a lack of awareness about the requirement for them to choose a facility before accessing services. Second, this was further exacerbated by the fact that a majority of members from rural areas were not very conversant with the technological approaches for choosing a facility other than visiting an NHIF branch or having their facility chosen for them when they visited a facility while ill. Third, while NHIF was giving members a choice to choose a facility, members expressed the lack of choice especially in rural areas where only one or very few NHIF-contracted facilities existed, which were often very far. Finally, other members had other insurance mechanisms, particularly, private insurance which they used mostly.
There is that challenge about outpatient, you get other people are not literate and now if you tell him to dial *155#, it becomes a challenge” FGD 4 Nyeri county – Rural“I did not choose because I did not know about that * 155 # but I just wanted to get to the nearest facility to receive treatment” FGD 1 Makueni county – Rural
Factors or factors that influence NHIF members’ choice of an outpatient provider