Member of Parliament for Lambussie and Board Chair of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. Titus Kofi Beyuo, has assured the public that the facility is recovering after being one of the hardest hit by the Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS) scandal.
In October, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh accused the company behind LHIMS of underperformance and alleged blackmail, following widespread disruptions in the national health data system.
A forensic audit revealed hardware supply irregularities, including shortages, poor-quality equipment, and alarming data security concerns due to the system’s cloud infrastructure being hosted outside Ghana.
These disruptions forced several hospitals to revert temporarily to manual record-keeping, while the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) reported service downtimes that affected patient care.
Prof. Beyuo highlighted serious risks under the LHIMS system, noting that professionals could easily access and alter payment details without detection, exposing the system to fraud and significant financial losses.
“So, we had a situation where people could go into the LHIMS, and alter people’s bills. Someone could have a surgery worth 46,000, and someone else could change that, then pocket the difference,” he explained. “We’re losing volumes of money. This is how bad the situation was.”
He also raised concerns about patient privacy breaches, revealing that doctors were using personal phones to access sensitive information.
“We had a situation where doctors were using their personal phones to access data. This is dangerous. Patient information should never be on personal devices. If someone screenshots and saves it, how do we track that? If residual information remains, what happens?” Prof. Beyuo questioned.
Expressing optimism about the future, Prof. Beyuo praised the newly introduced Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS), which is set to replace LHIMS.
“Thankfully, I can report that the new system is progressing well. It’s completed at Ridge, nearly complete at Korle-Bu Polyclinic, and integration is underway in some departments. Very soon, we should be live and everything will be okay,” he concluded.
Story by: Elikplim Awuku
