M-TIBA, the health financing technology platform based in Kenya and the Kenya Healthcare Federation (KHF) have announced a new SMS-based service to help the security agencies identify essential healthcare service workers in the country. This is in response to these workers facing travel restrictions during curfew hours and movements into or out of counties with restricted movements. Security personnel is also increasingly concerned about the authenticity of paper-based passes being used to identify essential service providers.
M-TIBA has developed a verification platform for security officers to check that people are healthcare workers providing essential services. They can do this by sending a free SMS with an ID number of the healthcare worker to 20253. They will receive a confirmation message from M-TIBA authenticating the ID – and vehicle registration details, when available.
This will help KHF members, who are providers of gazetted essential services, to carry on with their official duties during curfew hours, or when transiting through lockdown areas. Over 2,000 staff of KHF member organizations have already been registered on the platform pilot. It is expected that a further 2,000 healthcare workers will register in the coming weeks.
M-TIBA, was developed in Kenya, by CarePay and is used by insurers and healthcare providers for the secure digital administration of large-scale health schemes via mobile phones. It enables members to manage their medical insurance benefit using their mobile phones while also providing real-time integrated data exchange between patients, insurers and healthcare providers. M-TIBA has been working with the healthcare sector to deploy mobile technology in the fight against COVID-19. Recent developments include using contactless systems to verify patients seeking treatments at hospitals.
Dr. Anastasia Nyalita, CEO, Kenya Healthcare Federation noted, “As all efforts are directed towards containing the spread of COVID 19, we need to simultaneously support and maintain the availability of essential workers, medications, equipment and supplies. Our partnership with M-TIBA will help our members and the security services smoothen the flow of these essential services at this critical time.”
Moses Kuria, Managing Director, CarePay Kenya, said, “The mobile is a powerful weapon in Kenya’s fight against COVID-19. Our development team have done a fantastic job in rapidly building and deploying this ID verification module on M-TIBA. We’re continuing to work with healthcare providers and insurers to find new ways to use the platform to ensure the safe and uninterrupted provision of healthcare and supplies.”
M-TIBA is a proven health payments integrator, revolutionizing the management of large-scale health schemes and supporting the drive for Universal Health Coverage in Africa.
KHF is the Health Sector Board of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). Founded in 2004, the Federation works with healthcare providers, hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurers to promote strategic public-private partnerships towards achieving national access to quality healthcare and is dedicated to engaging the government and all relevant stakeholders in achieving quality healthcare by maximizing the contribution of the private sector.
