The Ministry of Health has clarified the transition from the Social Health Authority (SHA) Provider Portal to the Health Management Information System (HMIS), following confusion over claims that the government was replacing SHA with a new platform.The ministry, in a statement issued by CS Aden Duale on Friday, October 2, said the change is intended to integrate hospital systems with SHA and other health-sector platforms rather than replace the health insurance authority.Since the establishment of SHA, the Digital Health Agency (DHA) has provided a portal through which healthcare providers submit and transmit claims to the authority, particularly during the transition period.However, hospitals have been required to operate their own HMIS alongside the SHA Provider Portal, meaning staff often have to enter or transfer the same information between separate systems, according to the government. The ministry said the arrangement has created additional administrative work for healthcare facilities and, in some cases, contributed to longer processing and waiting times for patients.As such, under the new arrangement, the hospital’s existing HMIS is expected to become the primary system through which healthcare services and related information are managed.The ministry stressed that HMIS is not a new system being introduced to replace SHA, but part of the ongoing rollout of the digital health infrastructure that has already been procured and paid for.CS Duale said the goal was to move away from fragmented systems that require healthcare workers to repeatedly enter the same information.“The objective is not simply to replace one portal with another. The bigger objective is to connect the different components of the healthcare ecosystem,” Duale said.According to the ministry, integrating the systems is expected to reduce duplication of data entry, improve the processing of admissions, consultations, billing and claims, and give authorised healthcare workers easier access to relevant patient information.The system is also expected to improve the quality and verification of claims submitted to SHA by linking them more closely to patient encounters and services provided, while helping identify duplicate claims and other errors.The ministry said the transition will require technical integration and support for hospitals and healthcare workers, with the implementation expected to focus on reducing paperwork, shortening waiting times, and improving accountability in the health sector.
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