Health Records and Information Managers Act

This Act may be cited as the Health Records and Information Managers Act.

Section 2. Interpretation Section consulting in clinical coding;

Members of the Board serve three-year terms from their appointment/nomination/election and are eligible for one further term.

The Board's conduct and regulation of its business and affairs must follow the Schedule; except as provided in the Schedule, the Board may regulate its own procedure.

The Board may, by resolution (generally or in a particular case), delegate to a committee or to any member, officer, employee or agent of the Board the exercise of its powers or the performance of its functions or duties under this Act or any other written law.

The Board must appoint a Registrar (a registered Manager) with the Cabinet Secretary's approval; the Board may appoint other officers with that approval; the Registrar must maintain registers and perform duties prescribed by the Act; the Registrar and officers are to be paid remuneration as determined by the Board with Cabinet Secretary approval.

The Registrar must have successfully attended a Board-prescribed managers' instruction course at an approved Kenyan training institution.

Establishes the Health Records and Information Managers Board (a Board to be known as the Health Records and Information Managers Board).

The Board's headquarters is in Nairobi, and the Board may establish offices in the Counties.

Section 5 lists the Board's powers (control of assets; determine expenditure and reserves; receive grants and disbursements; enter agreements with consultation; open bank accounts; invest unused funds), allows delegation and appointments, requires the Board to determine members' terms in consultation and on advice, and exempts bona fide actors from personal liability.

Section 6 assigns functions to the Board: set and improve professional and training standards; advise the Cabinet Secretary; manage registers; report annually by June; meet between four and twelve times each financial year; Chairperson may call special meetings and must call one within 15 days if four members request it.

Sets out the Board's composition and appointing considerations; establishes the Registrar as CEO and Secretary and requires committees and consideration of gender, regional balance and skills mix.

Vacancies caused by death or vacation of office are filled by the Cabinet Secretary if the member was appointed by the Cabinet Secretary; otherwise the Board fills the vacancy; appointees hold office for the remainder of the predecessor's term.

If the Chairperson is absent the vice‑Chairperson must perform the Chairperson's duties; if both are absent the members present must elect someone to preside; if the Board fails to carry out its functions in the national interest the Cabinet Secretary may revoke appointments and nominate replacements.

The Board must approve persons eligible for registration who meet the certificate and supervised training requirements.

Allows a person to apply for registration; prescribes Registrar duties to enter registrant details and issue certificates on payment; the Board may prescribe forms, fees and retention fee payment intervals.

The Registrar must maintain a register of Managers (with categories by specialty) and must publish annually in the Gazette the names and addresses of Managers registered in the previous year, not later than the last day of March.

Removal of the names of all deceased persons.

The Board must make Regulations prescribing the procedure for approving and accrediting training institutions for this section.

If this Act conflicts with the Universities Act on approving or accrediting university programmes, the Universities Act prevails; approval or accreditation of university academic programmes is exclusively the Commission for University Education's mandate, exercised under the Universities Act, and the Commission must consult the Board before approving programmes in health record and information management.

You cannot practice as a Manager unless registered under the Act; hiring unregistered Managers while in charge of a health institution is prohibited; false statements in registration applications are offences; contraventions carry fines and/or imprisonment.

Registers for Technicians and Officers must be kept; other registers may be prescribed by the Board with Cabinet Secretary approval; registered persons' names, addresses and qualifications shall be entered and maintained subject to payment of a retention fee.

Requires that, for qualifications for registration, the section is of good character.

Sets eligibility criteria and rules for practising certificates, renewal, register entries, fees, entitlement to fees, and penalties for contravention.

Persons removed from the register (or their legal representatives) must surrender the certificate of registration to the Registrar within 30 days; destroying, defacing, or wrongful possession of certificates are offences with specified penalties; certificates under the Board's seal remain the Board's property; a sealed certificate is conclusive evidence of registration status.

Members of the Board and its officers, employees or agents are not personally liable for acts done bona fide in executing the Board's functions, powers or duties.

A person convicted of an offence under the Act for which no penalty is provided shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings.

It is an offence for any person to wilfully make false entries in or falsify registers or records kept under this Act, or to procure registration or a licence by false or fraudulent representations; offenders are liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

Persons not eligible to be registered or licensed may not use titles, hold themselves out as registered or licensed, wear prescribed uniforms/badges, or practise for gain as a Health Records and Information Manager except where the Cabinet Secretary permits by Gazette notice or Regulations; breaching these rules is an offence punishable by a fine up to three million shillings or imprisonment up to two years or both.

Persons eligible to be registered or licensed who are not registered or licensed but practice (as a Health Records and Information Manager) commit an offence and are liable to fines or imprisonment; related offences include being registered in a register where one’s name is not registered, doing acts one is not licensed to do, and using a name or title one is not entitled to use.

It is an offence for any person to purport to conduct examinations on behalf of the Board without being authorized by the Board; on conviction the offender is liable to a fine not exceeding three million shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

Defines the membership and quorum of the Disciplinary Committee.

The Committee must hear and decide matters referred to it by the Board or any other aggrieved person.

A manager referred to the Committee must be given a fair hearing and may appear in person or be represented; the Committee may take evidence and, subject to regulations, compel witnesses and documents; and the Committee must regulate its own procedure.

Section 31 gives the Disciplinary Committee powers to discipline a Manager (admonishment, suspensions, withdrawal/cancellation of certificates, fines, removal from register), allows the Committee to order cost reimbursement recoverable as civil debt, requires suspended or cancelled Managers to surrender certificates to the Registrar, makes refusal to surrender an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings, and allows Managers to appeal to the High Court within twenty-one days.

A Manager suspended from practising may appeal to the Board before the suspension expires; if the Board is satisfied it shall lift the suspension and restore the Manager's registration, practising certificates and annual licence subject to payment of the prescribed fee.

A manager removed from the register may appeal to the Board for restoration after three years; the Board may restore the person's name after considering the appeal and upon payment of the prescribed fee.

Section 34 lists four effects that may be taken in relation to removal, cancellation or suspension (restoring a person's name to the register; terminating a registration suspension; granting a new licence; terminating suspension of an existing licence) and provides that subsection (1) does not apply where the person's name was removed at their request or with their consent, in which case restoration occurs on application and payment of the prescribed fee.

Any person may practise in their name as a registered Manager, unless that person holds a practising certificate and is in partnership with or employed by the Manager.

The Board may receive or hold monies that accrue to or vest in it.

The financial year of the Board is the period of twelve months ending on the thirtieth of June in every year.

The Board, in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary, may make Rules to carry out this Act, including specified matters such as attendance of witnesses, fees, registers, training, standards of practice, elections and management of funds.