Why Kenya should step up patient data sharing between health facilities

A health officer enters data into the new platform to monitor family planning commodities at the Homa Bay County Hospital. [File, Standard]

In Kenya, a big healthcare pain is no longer infrastructure, but the inadequacy of usable, and shareable healthcare data across facilities and counties. This failure undermines the continuity of care and weakens progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC). In an era of rapid technological development, Kenya's digital health landscape should continuously aim for cohesive and interoperable data networks that function effectively across all the 47 counties.

Today, a breakdown in information is common. A patient treated for a condition in Kisumu may seek care in another county without access to their prior medical records, such as laboratory results, surgical notes, medication history, allergies, imaging reports, or follow-up plans. In such situations, clinicians are forced to make critical decisions with incomplete information compromising quality of care, patient safety, disease surveillance, and the broader promise of UHC.

The result is often a restart of care with tests being repeated, diagnoses delayed, and treatment plans improvised. Clinical data can be lost along the way, negatively impacting treatment modalities and outcomes. Seamless information sharing across the healthcare space is vital. It ensures appropriate clinical decisions are made which facilitates continuity of care that sits at the core of effective and safe healthcare delivery. The UHC means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services that they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. When patient data does not follow the patient, providers can make avoidable or repetitive clinical decisions, driving up costs for households and the health system alike. 

Where data remains in silos rather than connected networks, UHC becomes fragmented rather than coordinated. Beyond individual care, health data is essential for disease surveillance outbreaks, forecasting pharmaceutical drug supply chains and informing health policy. 

With the absence of easily accessible and shareable data across healthcare networks the above activities are negatively impacted.  When data, that informs which diseases are ravaging Kenyans is not complete, it is difficult to map out hotspot regions and preventive actions fall short of their targets. 

The same data missing at the bedside is the data needed for outbreak detection. Epidemiology on diseases such as stroke, and cancer have a paucity of data which translates to inadequate mapping, missed signals and delayed action.  

Drug consumption data serves to inform pharmaceutical services on the drugs volumes that are necessary for the vital, essential and non-essential groups. When there is inadequate drug consumption data, missed early warning, drug stock-outs, and delayed response ensue.

Whereas there is continuous digitisation of healthcare services, the many existing healthcare information management systems are fragmented. These digital tools fail to achieve communication across counties or different levels of care resulting in diminished meaningful value. Kenya’s challenge is therefore not the absence of data but the lack of interoperable, clinically useful data systems designed to support care delivery rather than administrative reporting alone. If Kenya is serious about UHC, then health data must move from being an afterthought to becoming a core clinical tool and a foundational part of health infrastructure. 

Dr Gichure is a pharmacist