South Africa
Streamlining pharmacy processes for better delivery of essential medicine
GlobalHealth Lab’s second project with Retreat focused on its pharmacy, where we aimed to help streamline operations to improve the delivery of essential medicine to its patients. The first step was an extensive study tracking the entire process, from patient arrival to dispensing. The team then pinpointed specific opportunities to explore in depth and generated a set of practical ideas they tested on site. Read more
Refining clinic processes to reduce patient wait times
A public facility of the Western Cape Department of Health, Lotus River Clinic serves 13,000 low-income patients per month, including many with chronic diseases, in a Cape Flats neighborhood of Cape Town. Read more
Developing a Market Entry Strategy for a rugged anesthesia machine for safer surgeries
Gradian Health Systems is a New York based non-profit start-up whose Universal Anesthesia Machine equips hospitals around the world to deliver anesthesia safely and economically in resource-constrained settings where compressed oxygen or continuous electricity may not be available. The team surveyed the national healthcare landscape, identified potential customers, and refined a comprehensive market entry strategy. An effective approach to scaling up in Zambia could ensure that every machine delivers the maximum benefit to the country. Read more
Exploring new opportunities in healthcare delivery using mobile phones
US-based social enterprise Dimagi’s software improves healthcare for the underserved in 30 developing countries. In studying users in four sites across South Africa, our team aimed to equip Dimagi to shift from providing its technology to enterprise partners to a new approach fueled by end-user demand. A pull model could enable Dimagi to innovate and better respond to community health workers’ needs, creating a virtuous cycle of user-driven technology adoption. Read more
Business Models for Rural Nurse Cellphone Consultation
ClickDiagnostics, a mobile medical diagnostics start-up originally developed in MIT’s Media Lab, created a remote diagnosis and treatment technology in order to enable better access to healthcare in the developing world. Read more
Staffing and Financial Planning for a Busy Public Hospital
With 137 beds, Warmbaths Hospital provided level-one clinical care to the town of Bela Bela and its surrounding community. Read more
Leveraging Research and Date for Thought Leadership
loveLife is South Africa’s national HIV prevention initiative for young people ages 12-24. With a network of programs that extended to 900 sites across nine provinces, the nonprofit melded behavior change with clinical services through youth-friendly programs and, in less than a decade, had become an essential part of South African life. Read more
Optimizing Materials Distribution to Reach Underserved Youth
loveLife is South Africa’s national HIV prevention initiative for young people ages 12-24. With a network of programs that extended to 900 sites across nine provinces, the nonprofit melded behavior change with clinical services through youth-friendly programs and, in less than a decade, had become an essential part of South African life. Read more
Reducing Wait Times in a Busy Public Clinic
The South African Provincial Western Cape Department of Health is a government-run organization that delivers free healthcare to more than 16 million uninsured patients every year. Read more
Potential Profitability of a Townships Micro-Clinic Franchise
Pharmaceutical and medical supply claims were the major focus of one of the biggest divisions of RTT, South Africa’s largest privately owned distribution company (in 2013 it was acquired by Imperial Health and renamed). Unjani was a social project run by RTT's leadership that aimed to contribute to the welfare of its 7000+ employees, their families, along with the broader community, through the creation of sustainable local businesses designed to provide basic, affordable health services near RTT warehouses. Read more
Pricing and Marketing to Grow a Micro-Clinic Franchise
Pharmaceutical and medical supply claims were the major focus of one of the biggest divisions of RTT, South Africa’s largest privately owned distribution company (in 2013 it was acquired by Imperial Health and renamed). Unjani was a social project run by RTT's leadership that aimed to contribute to the welfare of its 7000+ employees, their families, along with the broader community, through the creation of sustainable local businesses designed to provide basic, affordable health services near RTT warehouses. Read more
Combining Soccer and SMS to Improve Health Outcomes
Grassroot Soccer (GRS) was founded 2002 in Zimbabwe by former professional soccer players who saw the devastation of AIDS and sought to use soccer as an HIV prevention tool with programs designed to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. By 2012 GRS and its partners provided health and prevention education in schools and on soccer fields to roughly 100,000 youth aged 11-25 annually. Read more
Leveraging Data to Grow an HIV Management Business
CareWorks, a South African firm, provided HIV-related services to companies, medical insurers, and other organizations. Read more