Tuesday 5 August  2025 {HMC} Starting today, the Social Health Authority (SHA) will no longer accept OTP based authorization, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has announced.

In a statement on Monday, Duale said that all approvals will either be completed using the biometric health ID or the Practice 360 app. According to Duale, biometric registration is now available at all Level 4,5, and 6 facilities across the country.

According to Duale, no patient will need to present physical documents to access healthcare services through SHA. Instead, healthcare facilities will use the patient’s biometric data for details.

According to Duale, the systems have been engineered with a broader aim to eliminate fraudulent activities in the country’s health insurance programme.

Duale revealed this at the Kenyatta Teaching Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH), where he launched the national biometric verification system on Monday, August 4.

“As of now, the biometric registration is now live in all level 4,5 ad 6 facilities, with ongoing efforts to onboard level 3 and 2 facilities across the country. We have also launched the practice 360 app today, which we have launched today and is now live from this minute and is geo-tapped to specific health facilities where healthcare professionals are stationed,” Duale said.

“All healthcare workers now have an opportunity to view, to approve, and to manage pre-approvals, authorisation claims, and the service they offer directly through the app,” he added.

The CS has further launched the National Product Catalogue to block fake drugs in health facilities and the Health Information Exchange (HIE), which will enable healthcare facilities to share patient data securely.

The health boss said that the systems are aimed at reducing paperwork in health facilities, a factor that often prevents timely and efficient healthcare services.

“This biometric system will help us eliminate fraud and misuse of benefits; it will also reduce paperwork, shorten queues of our patients, and ensure that more time is spent on patient care,” Duale said.

“This digital superhighway will work as the backbone that forms the backbone of a transparent, patient-centred and efficient health system,” he added.

So far, according to Duale, 25 million Kenyans have already enrolled with the health insurance programme, and more than 10,000 private, public, and faith-based facilities have been contracted under the scheme.

Duale has further said that SHA will not reimburse healthcare facilities for medicines that they have not dispensed to patients. Duale has further warned that the SHA will deregister pharmaceutical companies that fail to upload certified product data within 30 days.

by Ken Muthomi