How DHA is using technology to connect hospitals and improve patient care

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 14 – The Digital Health Agency (DHA) is rolling out systems to connect hospitals, patients, health insurers and medicine suppliers, enabling secure sharing of medical records and reducing delays in accessing healthcare.

DHA Chief Executive Officer Engineer Anthony Lenaiyara said the agency is working to create a more integrated health system where authorised healthcare providers can access patients’ medical histories across facilities.

Speaking during an interview on Capital FM, Lenaiyara said the system will reduce cases where patients are forced to repeat medical tests because their records are unavailable when they move from one hospital to another.

“If you’re a patient as you walk in from Hospital A to Hospital B, you will want to walk with your records. You don’t want to have repeated tests,” he said.

Lenayara said protecting health information is a key responsibility of the DHA, given the sensitivity of medical records.

“Our health data is very sensitive, and as well as very strategic as a country,” he said, adding that the agency is ensuring health data is properly stored, transmitted and accessed only by authorised users.

The DHA is also responsible for developing and maintaining the Comprehensive Integrated Health Information System and the infrastructure supporting health information exchange.

Lenaiyara said standardising digital systems across healthcare providers would help reduce paperwork, administrative costs and waiting times.

He said the digital system would also help improve coordination between healthcare facilities, health financing systems and other providers.

On concerns over access to outpatient services under the Social Health Authority (SHA), Lenaiyara said patients seeking routine outpatient care should ordinarily use Level 2 to Level 4 facilities, while Level 5 and Level 6 hospitals should focus on more specialised and complex cases.

“We did not expect a patient to walk to a Level 5 or Level 6 for simple outpatient services,” he said.

He said the referral structure is intended to prevent congestion at higher-level hospitals while ensuring patients requiring specialised or critical care receive appropriate treatment.

Lenaiyara clarified that the DHA and SHA have different mandates. While SHA manages health financing under the social health insurance framework, the DHA provides the digital infrastructure for managing and exchanging health information.

The DHA was established under the Digital Health Act, 2023, which provides the legal framework for digital health services and the integrated management of health information in Kenya.

The agency is expected to play a central role as Kenya expands the use of digital technology to improve healthcare delivery, protect patient information and make medical records more portable across the health system.