Duale Clears Air on SHA Portal Shift, Reveals What Changes for Hospitals and Patients

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has clarified what the transition from the Social Health Authority (SHA) Provider Portal to the Health Management Information System (HMIS) means for hospitals and patients, following confusion over the digital health changes taking place across the country.

The clarification comes after the Ministry directed health facilities to move from the SHA Provider Portal to HMIS, with September 30 initially set as the deadline for the transition.

On Thursday, October 1, 2026, the government extended the deadline by one month for facilities that had not completed the process, giving them until October 30 to finalise the migration.

Duale’s latest statement, issued on Friday, October 2, seeks to put the transition into context, explaining what hospitals have been using, what is changing and how the new arrangement is expected to affect healthcare delivery.

Why hospitals are moving from the SHA portal

Since SHA was established, healthcare providers have been using a provider portal supplied by the Digital Health Agency to submit and transmit claims to the health insurer.

At the same time, hospitals have continued using their own Health Management Information Systems to run daily operations, including managing patients, services, billing and other administrative functions.

According to Duale, having the two systems has meant that healthcare workers sometimes have to enter or transfer similar information between separate platforms.

“Hospitals have had to work with two separate systems: their own Health Management Information System (HMIS) and the SHA portal, which is used for claims and related transactions.”

Also Read: SHA Extends HMIS Compliance Deadline for Healthcare Providers

The shift is therefore intended to bring those processes closer together. Rather than treating the SHA portal as a separate destination for claims, a hospital’s HMIS is expected to serve as the main system through which healthcare information is captured and managed, while communicating securely with SHA and other health-sector platforms.

Duale described the broader goal as moving towards an integrated digital health environment rather than simply replacing one portal with another.

What the change means for patients

For patients, the Ministry says the intended benefit is less duplication and fewer administrative steps during a hospital visit.

Information captured during a patient’s care can be used across connected systems instead of healthcare workers repeatedly entering the same details. The Ministry expects this to support faster processing of admissions, consultations, procedures, billing and claims.

Duale also linked the transition to better continuity of care, saying properly integrated records could allow authorized healthcare professionals to access relevant patient information when required.

The Ministry said the change is not intended to interfere with access to treatment. Patients will continue receiving services at facilities that have not completed the migration, meaning a facility’s outstanding transition should not prevent a patient from seeking care.

Government says 6,427 public Level 2–4 facilities had already completed the transition. Four public Level 5 facilities had also completed the process, while 23 others were at different stages of migration as of October 1.

Also Read: SHA Extends Contracting Deadline, Giving Hospitals More Time to Comply

The extended period will allow facilities still completing the process to receive technical support from the Digital Health Agency.

Ministry of health expects the remaining transition work at public Level 5 facilities, faith-based facilities and other facilities covered by the extension to be completed by October 30.

For hospitals and healthcare workers, Duale said the long-term objective is to reduce paperwork and repeated data entry while improving the accuracy of health information, claims processing and reporting.

The Ministry’s position is that the change should ultimately leave patients dealing with a more connected healthcare system rather than multiple disconnected digital platforms.

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A collage photo of SHA CEO Mercy Mwangagi addressing the media during her official report at SHA offices in Nairobi on June 3, 2025. PHOTO/ The Standard.