The Ministry of Health has committed to ensuring healthcare facilities offer all services in a paperless platform.
The ministry noted that one of its pillars in the delivery of Universal Health Coverage is health digitisation.
“If you move from one facility to another, all your records are available within the system,” it explained.
The ministry said a comprehensive integrated health information management system is essential to enhance efficiency in health service delivery and provide data portability and visibility
“The Ministry of Health contracted a consortium led by Safaricom to deliver an end-to-end digitisation of the health care ecosystem,” it added.
It said the healthcare system needs to be defined, comprising more than 6,000 public facilities and regulatory agencies under the ministry, including the Medical Council, Pharmacy and Poisons Board, Clinical Officers Council, Nursing Council of Kenya, and the Kenya Health Professionals Oversight Authority, Social Health Authority, Kemsa and healthcare workers, among others.
The ministry said the government could not fund the project immediately and opted for the system as a service model by the consortium. “The systems and services provided are thus paid for.”
It further noted that the healthcare system is a 10-year project.
“The project includes the rollout of devices to the more than 6,000 facilities. The devices need power backup. For seamless service delivery, Internet connectivity is also crucial. Consequently, data cloud storage and the health management information systems are being rolled out, while training is being conducted and data security enhanced,” the ministry explained.
The ministry issued the statement as President William Ruto denied reports that the government of Kenya spent a total of Sh104 billion to procure the Social Health Authority (SHA) system.
Speaking in Malava, Kakamega, during the burial of late MP Malulu Injendi on Tuesday, Ruto said no funds from the government will be used to pay for it except for the fee for the service facility.
He explained that the system is run by a consortium of technology companies that will make sure there are no fraudulent claims, as was the case with NHIF.
