How to check whether a health system is really DHA certified

The short answer

Ask the vendor for the DHA certificate number, the certified scope and the expiry date. Enter the number in the Digital Health Agency's certificate verification tool. Do not treat a product brochure, an integration statement or an application update as a certificate.

The lookup is a check on the certificate presented to you. It is not a substitute for checking whether the certified scope covers the work your facility actually performs.

What the certificate check can establish

1. Whether the certificate number is recognised by the DHA tool.
2. Which system and scope the certificate describes.
3. Whether the certificate is within the validity period shown by the Agency.

Save the result with the date you checked it. Certification is tied to a declared system scope, so a certificate for one product or service should not be presented as approval for every module a vendor may sell.

Do not confuse the systems page with a list of certified products

The DHA system categories page explains the kinds of digital health systems that fall within the certification programme. It helps a buyer understand whether an EMR, HMIS, laboratory system or another digital health product is the type of system that needs assessment.

It does not tell you which named systems hold certificates. At the time of checking this guide, no public list of certified systems was available there. That is why the certificate number matters. A vendor that cannot provide a number has not given you an independently checkable certification claim.

What the DHA process and framework add

The DHA certification process describes six stages: self-attestation, document submission and review, demonstrations and test labs, full system testing, the certification decision and post-certification monitoring.

The scoring framework distinguishes required criteria, weighted recommended criteria and optional bonus criteria. It also describes four equally weighted evaluation domains: functionality; reporting and public health alerts; security, privacy and confidentiality; and information exchange and interoperability.

This explains why a vendor can be doing serious technical work without holding a certificate yet. Testing, documentation and interoperability preparation are activities in the process. They are not the certification decision.

Language that is not certification

Facility teams will hear several phrases that sound official but do not answer the certificate question:

• HIE compliant. This may describe an interoperability position or an integration target. It is not certification.
• Integration ready. This describes capability or preparation. It does not prove that the DHA has certified the system.
• In final stages. This describes a vendor's stated progress. It is not a certificate number or a certification result.
• We have applied. An application is a process stage, not a certification decision.

The DHA certification FAQ covers questions about mandatory certification, timing, failed criteria, recertification, monitoring and cloud-hosted systems. Use it to understand the Agency's published position, then ask the vendor for evidence that relates to your own facility.

A five-minute buyer check

1. Ask for the certificate number in writing.
2. Open the DHA certificate verification tool yourself.
3. Check that the returned name and scope match the system you are buying.
4. Check the validity or expiry information shown.
5. Save the result and ask what happens if the system changes scope or reaches reassessment.

If a vendor gives you only a logo, a slide or a statement about being close to certification, ask again for the number. A clear answer to that question protects the facility from making a regulatory decision on marketing language.

Common questions

Is there a public list of DHA-certified systems?

Not currently. The DHA systems page explains which kinds of system need certification. It is not a list of systems holding certificates. The independent check available to a buyer is the certificate lookup.

What should a vendor show me?

Ask for the certificate number, the scope covered and the expiry date. Enter the certificate number in the DHA verification tool and compare the returned details with what the vendor told you.

Is HIE compliance the same as DHA certification?

No. HIE compliance, integration readiness and an application in progress may describe work or a stage. They do not by themselves prove that the system holds a DHA certificate.

Where Nanto Health fits

Nanto Health is a dialysis-focused electronic medical record and SHA claim-readiness platform for Kenyan facilities. It is not a general hospital-wide HMIS. Nanto Health does not currently claim DHA certification.

The platform helps a dialysis team prepare, validate and track the clinical and billing record behind a SHA claim. Direct electronic submission remains gated by facility onboarding, testing, certification and production credentials. Regulatory readiness language should not be read as a claim that those external gates have already been completed.

For the wider assessment, read DHA certification in Kenya. For the product boundary, see EMR vs HMIS in Kenya and the dialysis EMR overview.

Sources

Sources checked live on 25 August 2026: the DHA certificate verification tool, certification FAQ, certification process and scoring framework. The pages were loaded and their rendered content checked, not cited from a status code alone. Requirements can change, so confirm the current position with the Digital Health Agency before relying on a vendor statement.