The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has embarked on biometric registration of its members ahead of the nationwide rollout of Universal Health Coverage.
Peter Kamunyo, NHIF chief executive officer, said digitisation of the processes will enhance efficiency in service delivery due to increased membership, claim management, and monitoring of the same.
Under the digitisation process, a member can visit an NHIF branch, or NHIF contracted hospital seeking services. Once identified, NHIF or the respective hospital captures fingerprint details and member’s dependents.
With the technology, dependents will be identified with fingerprints or One Time Password (OTP).
“The use of biometrics will increase the accessibility of services for the principal members and their dependents. All they need to have is their biometrics to be identified and verified wherever they are,” said the CEO.
Individuals with fingerprint problems or other medical conditions, and children below seven years will access services at hospitals using a One Time Password (OTP) sent to the principal member’s mobile device or through pre-authorisation.
Dr Kamunyo added that NHIF has empowered and equipped accredited hospitals to ensure that they can be biometrically registered before members seek services.
To reduce congestion at the NHIF service outlets, a team from NHIF is also undertaking a mass biometric exercise regionally.
The exercise has so far been undertaken in Laikipia, Nakuru, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Tharaka Nithi, Taita Taveta, and Nyeri counties.
The registration process is ongoing, but at the point of seeking services, members will be encouraged to register to avoid inconveniences.
“Registration process for the members and dependents is a continuous process with no deadline. However, at the point of seeking services at the hospitals, the members will be prompted to undertake the biometric registration first,” added the CEO.
However, NHIF members with physical cards will not register afresh, but their fingerprints will be the mode of identification.
The deadline for hospitals was on July 11, 2021, to enable them to fully implement an Electronic Claim (E-claim) management system, which enables real-time transactions of claims between NHIF and the hospital. “The Interfacing of the NHIF system and its network of over 8,000 Hospitals’ systems will ensure real-time payment of claims and reduce abuse and wastage,” noted Kamunyo.