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The Research and Monitoring Division comprises a
highly specialized team of multidisciplinary professionals. Together, the
members of the team combine expertise in medical and nursing care, law,
epidemiology, public health, accounting, health economics, information
management and business administration.
The team is responsible for monitoring the impact of the Act, researching
developments and recommending policy options to the Department and Ministry of
Health, to improve the regulatory environment.
The Division contributes to the development of standards, guidelines and
algorithms for implementation within the office of the Registrar, or more
broadly, the medical schemes industry. Finally, the Division includes the
Knowledge Management Centre which, though small, has access to huge electronic
databases and houses some material found in no other library in South Africa.
Research activities include a combination of literature reviews, consultative
processes, surveys, statistical methods, and analysis of portions of the
statutory returns in conjunction with the Financial Supervision Division -
contributing to production of the Quarterly and Annual Reports of the Registrar
of Medical Schemes. Reports produced thus far, under the auspices of the unit
include inter alia, a stakeholder analysis, a set of proposals in relation to
standardization of data collection and management in the industry, a study of
governance structures within medical schemes, development of therapeutic
algorithms for chronic conditions, and a study on the cost and affordability of
prescribed minimum benefits.
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Research
& Monitoring: Standing
from left: Patrick
Matshidze (Head of the Unit), Phakamile
Nkomo
(Research Analyst); Michael Willie (Research
Analyst), Thulani Matsebula
(Senior Policy Analyst). Seated:
Vuyo
Sono (the late R&M Analyst)
and
Baanetse Selebi
(Personal Assistant).
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