MedRef AI project clinical lead Dr Wasena Angira speaks during a training session for health workers at Thika Level 5 Hospital/SCREENGRABA new artificial intelligence–powered clinical decision support system is being piloted in Kiambu County.
The move is as part of ongoing efforts to integrate technology into public healthcare delivery.
The system, known as “MedRef AI,” is currently undergoing an initial rollout at Thika Level 5 Hospital, where healthcare workers have begun training on how it can be used alongside routine medical practice.
The tool is designed to provide clinicians with real-time, evidence-based medical references aligned with Ministry of Health treatment guidelines, with the aim of supporting more consistent bedside decision-making.
During a training session for health workers at the facility, project clinical lead Dr Wasena Angira said the platform is intended to complement, not replace, professional medical judgment.
“Technology should serve as a guide and support tool for clinicians, while final decisions always remain in the hands of trained health professionals,” he said.
Angira added that the system incorporates data-protection measures such as encryption to safeguard patient information.
“Patient confidentiality is central to digital health. Any technological solution must meet strict security standards to build trust among both doctors and the public,” he noted.
He further observed that similar digital support systems tested in other facilities have been associated with reductions in clinical errors and improved workflow efficiency for medical staff.
County health officials are expected to review findings from the pilot phase before determining whether similar digital tools could be introduced in additional Level 4 and Level 5 hospitals.
The trial forms part of a broader trend among health institutions exploring technology-driven solutions to address workload pressures, standardize care, and strengthen service delivery.
MedRef AI is a medical artificial intelligence application or system designed to support healthcare professionals by providing AI-assisted access to reliable medical information, analysis and decision support.
In recent AI research contexts, MedRef has been described as a medical dialogue system or AI model that leverages advanced techniques to filter and refine medical knowledge, enabling it to generate more accurate, context-aware clinical responses and recommendations, for example, by improving how medical questions are understood and answered based on relevant medical data.
This type of system is part of a broader trend in healthcare AI where tools combine large language models (LLMs) with knowledge refinement mechanisms so they can assist clinicians, researchers or patients with factual medical information while reducing errors and irrelevant data.
The “MedRef” framework aims to improve medical dialogue generation and entity accuracy in responses, making these tools more effective for real-world healthcare applications.
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