Hospitals, clinics & pharmacies · Kenya

SMS reminders for hospitals and clinics in Kenya

Missed appointments cost Kenyan clinics time and patients their continuity of care. eSMS Africa lets hospitals, clinics, labs and pharmacies send appointment reminders, results-ready alerts and refill notices in English and Kiswahili, written so that nothing sensitive appears on a lock screen. Messages go out on a transactional sender ID across Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom.

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Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom Delivery reports From KES 1.08 per SMS

AFYACARETransactional

Afya Care Clinic: Reminder of your appointment tomorrow, 10:30am, Ngong Rd branch. Bring your ID and SHA details. To change, call 0722 000 333.

143 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Kenya context

What makes hospitals, clinics & pharmacies messaging different in Kenya

The Digital Health Act, 2023 sets rules for how health data is collected, shared and protected, alongside the Data Protection Act, which classes health status as sensitive personal data.
Health administration and patient care are sectors where registration with the ODPC is mandatory regardless of the size of the facility, so even a small clinic that keeps patient phone numbers needs to register.
The Social Health Authority (SHA) replaced NHIF in 2024. Patients often need a reminder about what to bring or confirm before a visit, and an SMS is the simplest way to tell them.
Many patients share phones with family members, so a reminder that names a clinic department, such as an HIV or maternity clinic, can reveal more than the patient intends.

What to send

Messages hospitals, clinics & pharmacies teams in Kenya send

Appointment reminders

Send a reminder the day before and on the morning of each appointment, with the time and the facility, plus a number to call to reschedule. This frees slots that would otherwise go unused.

Results ready

Tell the patient their results are ready for collection or review, without stating the test or the outcome. Ask them to log in to the portal or call the clinic.

Refill and pick-up reminders

Pharmacies can remind patients on chronic medication when a refill is due, and confirm when an order is ready for collection or out for delivery.

Antenatal and immunisation schedules

Send scheduled reminders for antenatal visits and child immunisation dates, in Kiswahili or English, based on the dates recorded at registration. Mothers can pick the language when they first enrol at the clinic.

Outreach and screening camps

Announce free screening days or medical camps to patients who agreed to receive health information, with the date, venue and what to bring. Keep this list separate from patients who only agreed to appointment reminders.

Sample messages

Copy-ready templates for Kenya

Character counts and segments are calculated with the same GSM-7 and Unicode rules used for billing. Replace the example brand and values with your own.

Appointment reminder Transactional

Afya Care Clinic: Reminder of your appointment tomorrow, 10:30am, Ngong Rd branch. Bring your ID and SHA details. To change, call 0722 000 333.

143 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Appointment reminder (Kiswahili) Transactional Kiswahili

Afya Care: Kumbusho, una miadi kliniki kesho saa 4:30 asubuhi. Tafadhali fika mapema. Piga 0722 000 333 kubadilisha.

116 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Results ready Transactional

Afya Care Clinic: Your results are ready. Please log in at afyacare.co.ke/portal or call 0722 000 333 to book a review.

119 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Refill reminder Transactional

Uzima Pharmacy: Your monthly refill is due this week. Reply to your pharmacist on WhatsApp or call 0733 000 444 to order.

121 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Rules that apply

Compliance for hospitals, clinics & pharmacies SMS in Kenya

A practical summary with sources, not legal advice. Check the regulator's current text for edge cases.

Health data is sensitive personal data under the Data Protection Act, and the Digital Health Act, 2023 adds health-sector duties. Never put a diagnosis, test name, HIV status or medication name in an SMS.
Healthcare providers must register with the ODPC as data controllers whatever their size. Your SMS provider is a data processor; keep the agreement on file and list SMS in your privacy notice.
Appointment reminders and results notices are transactional. Health camps, new services and wellness packages are promotional on Safaricom and need a promotional sender ID, an opt-out and daytime sending.
Confirm the patient's preferred number and language at registration, and record whether a guardian should receive messages for a minor or a dependent adult.

Across Kenya

Telecom regulator: Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)
Data protection: Data Protection Act, 2019, Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC)
Languages: English, Kiswahili
Payments: M-Pesa, Airtel Money, T-Kash

The Kenya Information and Communications (Consumer Protection) Regulations, 2010 require automated direct-marketing schemes to be opt-in and to give a working way to stop messages.
The Data Protection (General) Regulations, 2021 treat electronic messages as direct marketing: offer a free, simple opt-out in every promotional SMS and honour objections. The ODPC has made awards against firms over unsolicited messages.
Safaricom separates promotional and transactional sender IDs. Its operator notice requires promotional traffic to carry an opt-out and to be sent between 08:00 and 18:00; OTPs and alerts are not time-restricted.
Political bulk SMS follows the CA guidelines on political messages (vetting before sending, English or Kiswahili only).

Sender ID registration in Kenya

Send it

From your system to Safaricom and Airtel in one call

1Create an account and copy a test key (esms_test_...) to try the integration without spending credit.
2Request your sender ID for Kenya. Until it is approved you can send from the eSMS default sender.
3Call the send endpoint from your app, or upload a CSV in the dashboard with merge fields like {{name}}. Delivery reports arrive by webhook.

Need one-time codes? eSMS Verify generates, sends and checks them in two calls. Full reference in the API docs.

curl -X POST https://sms.esmsafrica.io/api/messages/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ESMS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+254712345678",
    "text": "Afya Care Clinic: Reminder of your appointment tomorrow, 10:30am, Ngong Rd branch. Call 0722 000 333 to change.",
    "sender_id": "AFYACARE"
  }'

Live pricing

SMS pricing in Kenya

Per-SMS rates for one segment, updated live. Pay as you go with no monthly minimum; volume rates apply automatically by monthly spend.

Basic

KES1.08

per SMS· USD 0.0083

Monthly spend USD 1 - USD 1,000

Business

KES0.9

per SMS· USD 0.0069

Monthly spend USD 1,001 - USD 4,999

Enterprise

KES0.15

per SMS· USD 0.0012

Monthly spend USD 5,000+

Estimate a campaign with the SMS cost calculator or compare all countries in the Africa SMS pricing index.

FAQ

Hospitals, clinics & pharmacies SMS in Kenya: common questions

Can we send lab results by SMS?

It is safer not to. Health data is sensitive under Kenyan law, and an SMS can be read by anyone holding the phone. Send a results-ready notice and let the patient view results on a secure portal or discuss them with a clinician.

Does a small clinic really need to register with the ODPC?

Yes. The ODPC lists health administration and provision of patient care among sectors that must register regardless of turnover or staff numbers. Registration is done online through the ODPC and renewed periodically, and the fee depends on the size of the facility. Registering also forces a useful review of who holds patient numbers.

What sender ID should a hospital use?

Use a recognisable name, for example the hospital's short name, registered as a transactional ID for reminders and notices. If you also run promotions for wellness packages, register a separate promotional ID so that reminders are never caught by the promotional time window.