Private hospitals in Kenya are set to suspend services under the Social Health Authority (SHA) starting Monday, citing persistent system failures. The Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) announced that challenges with the SHA system have been ignored, endangering patient lives and threatening the survival of health facilities due to weak service provision. Dr. Brian Lishenga, RUPHA’s chairperson, highlighted issues such as prolonged system downtime, delays in One-Time Password (OTP) verification, and difficulties in tracking claim approvals. He noted that 54% of hospitals have not received payments from SHA, 89% have reported SHA portal failures, and 83% have faced serious difficulties in verifying patient eligibility due to system glitches.

This announcement follows previous concerns over SHA system failures. Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa apologized last month for disruptions caused by system breakdowns, which temporarily affected services like patient clearance and billing. She assured that the issues had been addressed, and patients were receiving services.

The ongoing challenges with the SHA system have led to frustrations among healthcare providers and patients, with reports of patients being stranded in hospitals due to system failures.

The suspension of SHA services by private hospitals is expected to impact many patients who rely on the program for affordable healthcare. Healthcare providers are urging the government to address the system malfunctions to resume services promptly.