Safaricom consortium gets Sh104b contract for digital health system

Safaricom and two partners have secured a Sh104 billion contract to provide technology for the implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

The country's leading mobile telecommunications will lead a consortium that includes Apeiro Ltd and Konvergenz Network Solutions Ltd to provide the Integrated Healthcare Information Technology System (IHITS), a key infrastructure for the implementation of the SHIF which is replacing the National Health Insurance Fund.

The three firms will invest in the project and recover the investment over 10 years starting in February 2025.

The consortium is expected to deliver 70,000 tablets and 5,000 laptops to public health workers, reliable internet connectivity and backup systems countrywide, locally hosted health cloud to manage patient data and AI and machine learning tools to aid in clinical decisions.

While Safaricom is the East African market leader in telecommunications and technology, Apeiro, a subsidiary of Sirius International Holding, has experience in digital health technology design and implementation.

Konvergenz Network Solutions specialises in the provision of end-to-end IT and communications solutions to businesses and organisations.

Safaricom Chief Executive Peter Ndegwa said the project signifies the firm's success in the technology space. "The delivery of this project builds on Safaricom's ability to rollout digital platforms that have had a positive impact on Kenyans such as Hustler Fund, the fertiliser e-voucher programme and disbursement of social support funds to the elderly through the Inua Jamii program," he said in a statement yesterday.

Ndegwa said the project will allow the Ministry of Health to deploy a comprehensive digital health solution without incurring any upfront capital expenditure or operational expenditure.

The IHITS system has several components, one of them being an implementation of a Health Information Exchange to drive interoperability of health systems across the country unifying patient records across health facilities in the country.

The system will also aid the development and rollout of a standard-based Integrated Hospital Management Information System to support digitisation of public health facilities in partnership with the Ministry of Health and county governments while also providing technology to digitise health products and the technology supply chain.

"This will enable the visibility of the movement of pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceutical products, reduction in stockouts, and traceability of medicines to the patient level," said Ndegwa.

The system will also provide comprehensive technology for health insurance to support the digitalisation of the Social Health Authority to curb fraud and improve efficiency, transparency, and accountability in healthcare financing and infrastructure to support the digital health ecosystem.

"This includes a Kenyan hosted health cloud, endpoint devices which include specially tailored tablets and computers made for every healthcare professional, secure mobile and fixed network across public health facilities and power back up for all facilities to assure technology uptime," said the Safaricom CEO.

On Friday, Medical Services Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai said the IHITS covers a range of services including training of public healthcare professionals.

He said the health sector is on the verge of monumental change.

"This transformation is designed with every Kenyan in mind, and every effort is being made to ensure that this system serves the people - saving lives, reducing costs a d making healthcare more accessible for all," Kimtai said in a press statement on digitisation of health services.

"This is not just about improving services. It's about ensuring no Kenyan is left behind."

Implementation of SHIF has been challenged in court but got the go-ahead on Friday when the Court of Appeal set aside a ruling by the High Court that had declared the fund and its related arms unconstitutional.