Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has unveiled a sweeping digital overhaul of Kenya’s health system, announcing the immediate discontinuation of One-Time Passwords (OTP) for patient care authorization under the Social Health Authority (SHA).

The move is part of broader reforms aimed at tightening security, reducing fraud, and improving efficiency in healthcare service delivery.

Speaking during a press briefing on Monday, August 4, Duale directed all health facilities and practitioners to shift to biometric health IDs or the newly launched Practice 360 app for all service approvals.

“With immediate effect, SHA will no longer accept OTP-based authorization. Let me make it very clear for our health facilities and doctors all approvals must now be done using biometric verification or the Practice 360 app,” said Duale.

The biometric system will require patients to verify their identity using fingerprints, streamlining authentication and ensuring only eligible individuals access healthcare services.

Practice 360, on the other hand, is a new digital platform that integrates health services, billing systems, and patient identity verification creating a centralized hub for managing claims, approvals, and care delivery.

Duale emphasized that the transition is crucial for eliminating fake claims, improving data integrity, and reducing paperwork. “This biometric system will help us eliminate fraud and misuse of benefits. It will also cut down on long queues and free up time for our health workers to focus on actual patient care,” he said.

In addition to the biometric reforms, the health CS also issued a 30-day ultimatum to all pharmaceutical companies to upload their certified product data on the National Product Catalogue or face de-registration and de-listing from SHA systems.

The catalogue, integrated with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB), is designed to ensure that only safe and authorized medicines are dispensed to Kenyans.

“This catalogue ensures that only approved pharmaceutical products are administered to Kenyans, helping us eliminate the risk of counterfeit or substandard drugs,” said Duale. The Ministry of Health says the reforms are a key pillar of Kenya’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) rollout and are aimed at restoring trust, accountability, and safety in the healthcare sector.