Nigeria's healthcare system needs more than just new hospitals and additional doctors to improve patient care. Health technology company Medismarts argues that fixing operational inefficiencies hidden within the system will deliver far greater impact than simply expanding infrastructure.
While healthcare reform debates typically centre on building facilities and securing funding, the real bottleneck lies in administrative processes that surround patient treatment. These behind-the-scenes activities—from patient verification and insurance approvals to claims processing and payments—directly determine how quickly patients receive care and how smoothly hospitals, providers and Health Maintenance Organisations operate.
"A patient does not care how many internal processes happen before they see a doctor. They only know how long they waited," Obinna Osuji, co-founder and chief executive of Medismarts, told BusinessDay.
He emphasised that healthcare operations drive everything else.
Osuji's comments emerge as Nigeria expands health insurance coverage through the National Health Insurance Authority and works to improve access to quality healthcare. Government investment has concentrated on hospitals, medical equipment and staff, yet inefficient administrative systems continue creating delays that harm patient experience.
Healthcare delivery depends on a chain of interconnected activities. "A patient's identity must be verified, health insurance eligibility confirmed, consultations completed, laboratory tests approved, medications prescribed, claims submitted and providers reimbursed," Osuji explained.
Even one delayed process can slow every subsequent stage.
These operational bottlenecks remain largely invisible to patients but significantly impact hospitals, insurers and healthcare providers. Tariff uploads and service code matching between hospitals and HMOs illustrate the problem perfectly.
When healthcare providers and insurers classify medical services differently, approvals get delayed, claims reconciliation becomes complicated and administrative workloads increase. "Problems like these rarely make headlines, but they quietly affect the efficiency of healthcare every day," Osuji said.
The challenge intensifies as healthcare demand grows. Medismarts processed 819,246 healthcare claims in 2025, with over 73,000 claims handled in June 2026 alone, alongside more than 50,000 API transactions daily.
At such volumes, even minor inefficiencies translate into thousands of lost productivity hours across the healthcare system.
Improving operational efficiency produces benefits far beyond reducing paperwork. Faster claims processing strengthens cash flow for healthcare providers and reduces reconciliation disputes for HMOs.
It also allows healthcare professionals to dedicate more time to treating patients rather than handling administrative tasks. Organisations using Medismarts' platform have recorded 95 percent improvement in claims processing, according to Osuji.
