Turkana goes biometric to stop fraud in healthcare services

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Turkana County has started replacing One-Time Password (OTP) verification with biometric patient screening in 167 public health facilities under the Taifa Care programme.

The move seeks to curb fraud and strengthen accountability in healthcare services.

The Department of Health and Sanitation Services said the biometric registration and authentication devices have been distributed to Level II health facilities across all 11 sub-counties to support Social Health Authority (SHA) operations and claims processing.

The rollout is being implemented in partnership with the Digital Health Agency (DHA) and Safaricom PLC.

Under the previous system, patients were verified using OTP messages sent to mobile phones before accessing healthcare services.

County officials say the transition to biometric screening will help address cases of identity theft, impersonation and duplicate or fraudulent enrolments by ensuring healthcare services are accessed only by legitimate beneficiaries.

Chief officer for Medical Services Dr Gilchrist Lokoel said the technology links patients’ fingerprints and other physical identifiers to their digital health records, making verification more secure and efficient.

He said the devices are expected to reduce paperwork, minimise manual data-entry errors and shorten waiting times during registration and patient processing in health facilities.

According to the county government, the biometric system will also improve patient identification, strengthen care management and follow-up processes and enhance transparency in the implementation of Taifa Care.

County ICT Officer Eliud Eyangan said the deployment marks a major step in the county’s transition towards integrated digital healthcare services.

He said reliable connectivity and digital infrastructure will play a key role in ensuring smooth implementation of the system across remote health facilities in the county.

The county government also said the rollout is expected to improve service delivery and support more efficient management of healthcare resources under Taifa Care and SHA programmes.