Faith Masita
The Social Health Authority (SHA) has confirmed that a major digital systems outage has disrupted essential healthcare services nationwide after its key service provider suffered a significant system failure.
In a statement released on Monday, SHA Chief Executive Officer Dr Mercy Mwangangi said the Authority was formally notified on March 1 by the Digital Health Agency (DHA) that a “major incident” had caused prolonged system unavailability, leaving critical functions offline.
“This outage has interrupted essential healthcare service delivery across contracted healthcare facilities, specifically affecting pre-authorisation processes,” Dr Mwangangi said, underlining the impact on facilities that rely on SHA systems to approve patient treatments and reimburse care.
Dr Mwangangi acknowledged the severity of the disruption and offered an apology to healthcare providers and patients alike.
“We understand the critical nature of these services for your daily operations and patient care, and we sincerely apologize for the significant inconvenience and disruption this is causing,” she said.
The outage comes as another digital blow to Kenya’s troubled rollout of SHA a Government-backed system introduced to replace the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) that has repeatedly faced technical failures and widespread criticism. Long-standing complaints from providers and patients over delayed claims, downtimes and lost revenue have dogged the transition to SHA, undermining confidence in the digital platform.
In her statement, Dr Mwangangi said SHA and DHA technical teams are working around the clock to fully restore functionality, though she did not provide a firm timeline for resolution.
“Our technical teams, in close collaboration with the Digital Health Agency, are fully mobilized and working with the highest urgency to identify the root cause and restore full functionality as quickly as possible,” she added.
Healthcare providers already stretched by procedural backlogs and financial pressures linked to the new system warned the disruption could further delay patient care, particularly for services that require pre-approval before treatment. Analysts say repeated outages risk eroding trust in the digital architecture designed to deliver universal health coverage.
The Social Health Authority was established by the Kenyan Government in late 2023 to unify the public health insurance system and replace NHIF. However, the transition has been marred by technical glitches, service complaints, and allegations of fraud in previous years.
In a statement released on Monday, SHA Chief Executive Officer Dr Mercy Mwangangi said the Authority was formally notified on March 1 by the Digital Health Agency (DHA) that a “major incident” had caused prolonged system unavailability, leaving critical functions offline.
“This outage has interrupted essential healthcare service delivery across contracted healthcare facilities, specifically affecting pre-authorisation processes,” Dr Mwangangi said, underlining the impact on facilities that rely on SHA systems to approve patient treatments and reimburse care.
Dr Mwangangi acknowledged the severity of the disruption and offered an apology to healthcare providers and patients alike.
“We understand the critical nature of these services for your daily operations and patient care, and we sincerely apologize for the significant inconvenience and disruption this is causing,” she said.
The outage comes as another digital blow to Kenya’s troubled rollout of SHA a Government-backed system introduced to replace the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) that has repeatedly faced technical failures and widespread criticism. Long-standing complaints from providers and patients over delayed claims, downtimes and lost revenue have dogged the transition to SHA, undermining confidence in the digital platform.
In her statement, Dr Mwangangi said SHA and DHA technical teams are working around the clock to fully restore functionality, though she did not provide a firm timeline for resolution.
“Our technical teams, in close collaboration with the Digital Health Agency, are fully mobilized and working with the highest urgency to identify the root cause and restore full functionality as quickly as possible,” she added.
Healthcare providers already stretched by procedural backlogs and financial pressures linked to the new system warned the disruption could further delay patient care, particularly for services that require pre-approval before treatment. Analysts say repeated outages risk eroding trust in the digital architecture designed to deliver universal health coverage.
The Social Health Authority was established by the Kenyan Government in late 2023 to unify the public health insurance system and replace NHIF. However, the transition has been marred by technical glitches, service complaints, and allegations of fraud in previous years.
