Safaricom is leading a consortium of companies to implement an Integrated Healthcare Information Technology System (IHTS System).

According to CEO Peter Ndengwa, this is aimed at transforming lives by the use of technology to address some of the country's pressing challenges.

Ndengwa said the system will help advance the ambitions of the Ministry of Health to ensure that every Kenyan has access to quality health care.

The Consortium includes Apeiro Limited and Konvergenz Network Solutions Limited.

Ndengwa said it will invest Sh104,808,136,478 over 10 years to implement, maintain and support the IHTS System.

He stated that the Consortium will recover the investment over the said 10-year period with monthly instalments set to commence from February 2025.

This is upon the successful implementation of key milestones on the project.

"This project structure allows MoH to deploy a comprehensive digital health solution without incurring any upfront capital expenditure (CapEx) or operational expenditure (OpEx)," he said.

Ndengwa said the IHTS System will see to the implementation of a Health Information Exchange (HIE) to drive interoperability of health systems across the country.

This will in turn unify patient records across health facilities in the country.

The System will also help in the development and rollout of a Standard Based Integrated Hospital Management Information System (IHMIS) to support the digitisation of public health facilities in partnership with the MoH and county governments.

The technology will also be used to digitise the health products and technology (HPT) supply chain.

Ndengwa said 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.

IHTS will help with the 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.

The System will also provide a comprehensive infrastructure to support the Digital Health Ecosystem in the country.

"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," the CEO said.

IHTS will also lead to a robust cybersecurity technology and measures to ensure all patient data remains secure and in compliance with applicable country laws.

Ndengwa added that Safaricom and its consortium partners will support the Ministry in training public health professionals, project management and the ground rollout of various technology components across the country.

"The delivery of this project builds on Safaricom's ability to successfully rollout digital platforms that have had a positive impact on Kenyans such as Hustler Fund, the fertilizer e-voucher program and disbursement of social support funds to the elderly through the Inua Jamii program," he said.

"We have also extensively partnered with county governments to digitise revenue collections and recently commenced local device assembly through a consortium."

Ndengwa said the device assembly will further accelerate Kenyans' access to digital services.