County Health Systems Strengthened Through Financial Data and Reporting
Health reporting in Kenya largely focuses on disease indicators, tracking infections, treatment outcomes, morbidity patterns and other measures that help health managers understand the health needs of their communities. Yet, without clear financial data, it can be difficult for health managers to know where resources are going, identify funding gaps, plan effectively or respond to challenges affecting service delivery.
Health financing dashboard development in Elgeyo Marakwet County
A health financing initiative across Busia, Bungoma, and Elgeyo Marakwet counties is working to address this need by making financial information a routine part of health system reporting and decision-making. The work builds on nearly a decade of collaboration between county governments and AMPATH and is supported by the Purpleville Foundation. The initiative forms part of a broader AMPATH population health approach that recognizes that strong health systems depend on more than clinical services. Effective financial management, reliable data, community needs, and health service delivery must work together to improve the health and well-being of underserved communities.
County health teams are being supported to strengthen financial data collection, develop interactive dashboards, and improve data visualization. The aim is to turn complex financial information into clear, regular bulletins that County Health Management Teams, Sub-County Health Management Teams, and individual health facilities can use to guide planning and resource allocation.
The dashboards bring together financial and service delivery information to provide a broader picture of facility performance. Key indicators include claims submitted and reimbursed through the Social Health Authority (SHA), common illnesses treated, out-of-pocket payments, staffing levels, facility budget allocations, and the availability of health products and technologies, including stock-out rates and corresponding budgets.
Having these indicators in one place can help health managers see the relationship between available resources and the services being delivered, identify areas requiring attention, and make decisions based on evidence rather than isolated information.
The work is supported by a long-standing partnership with the Kenya Ministry of Health, through which more than 300 Ministry of Health facilities across western Kenya are supported. Collaboration with the former National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and the Social Health Authority (SHA) has also contributed to efforts to advance Universal Health Coverage and improve access to primary healthcare without payment at the point of service.
As counties strengthen their use of data for health planning, integrating financial information into routine reporting offers an opportunity to make health systems more responsive and accountable.
Dr. Isaac Kipyego: County Director of Health Elgeyo Marakwet County
“The dashboard will be useful for the sub-county and county level because we will be able to look at what is the performance of facilities in terms of claims and marry it with what is from the Social Health Authority”.
“The beauty of the support from AMPATH health financing has been to strengthen and capacity build so that we can be able to say we are on the pathway to self-reliance in terms of enhancing the capacity on what exists and even improving the capacity of claiming even more.”
Gibson Wafula-Chief Officer, In-charge of Medical Services, Busia County Department of Health
“One of the biggest challenges as a county government is the issue of data and information. AMPATH initiative of a health financing dashboard will help gather data and information in good time for decision-making. I have been grappling with getting data on how much facilities are collecting. We have 93 facilities across 7 sub-counties, and consolidating the data is difficult and this results in decision making that are not well informed. With the dashboard, I believe we will be able to get data in good time and make the right decision”.
David Sibeyo-Busia Health Financing Focal Person
“This is a good intervention and timely intervention as we have observed it makes work easy. We will be able to produce very useful reports for decision making in a timely manner. Before we were inquiring for information manually through phone calls and it is time consuming and with many errors. With adoption of the health financing dashboard, we will have regular and timebound data.”