Minet Kenya, the administrator of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) medical scheme, has launched a website and USSD to serve members of the scheme.
The new initiatives have been launched to enable the scheme beneficiaries to be able to access the scheme remotely as a way of minimizing contacts. This is part of the measures in place to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the Teachers’ Medical Scheme, a population of over 300,000 teachers and their beneficiaries will now be able to enquire and report any cases of the COVID-19. They will be able to access the services remotely via a free short message code *202*07# and the following website collaborationkenya.minet.com/tscresponse.
“This move was necessary following the Government’s directives on dealing with the Coronavirus scourge, which, among other measures, requires that the public keep personal interactions as minimal as possible. The SMS code and online portal now make it possible for teachers under the TSC medical scheme to report any cases of Coronavirus of to us without necessarily visiting the offices,” said Minet Kenya Chief Executive Officer Sammy Mithui.
“I would, however, like to emphasize that we have set up a team of health and safety members who are already receiving all cases and giving guidelines. I also wish to add that our head office is still functional and we are available to provide updates on ambulatory, hospitals and self-quarantine support through the numbers 0800721316, 0732353535, and 0729471414. Our regional officers and county officers are working from home but are available on call as well,” Mr. Muthui added.
To further reduce exposure, the insurer has recommended to hospitals to consider switching from fingerprints to alternative methods of identifying patients. These include mobile USSD one-time-pin, access cards, optical, facial and voice recognition among other options where technology allows.