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BUSINESS MODEL TECHNOLOGIES THE BOARD PARTNERS
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
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Sky Health Centres Sky Health Centres
 
     
     
 
Sky Care Sky Care
 
     
     
     
 
SERVICE MODEL

Our health service model brings together existing technologies, social, and economic infrastructures in order to leverage local market forces for the benefit of low income people in rural areas. It mobilizes the private sector resources for public good. Within the WHP network, clients have access to a comprehensive set of health products and services. Providers within the network are organized into sub-networks for product and supply distribution and for medical referrals. Lower-level providers profit from referrals to higher-level providers. This system helps in ensuring timely provision of care and in minimizing competition among the different levels of service delivery.

The schematic below shows each level of service provision in the WHP network model:



Local Care through SKY CARE Providers
Local rural health providers who already live in each village are trained to act as WHP’s direct local health agent. These local agents receive training in delivering basic diagnostic services, and also provide health products such as non-clinical contraceptives and over-the-counter products. Working locally, SkyCare Providers refer patients requiring more sophisticated or advanced treatment to other partners in the network and earn a commission for each referral.
 
SKY HEALTH Centres:  Providing Quality Care through Telemedicine

SKY Health Centres bridge the gap between rural areas where clients reside and the quality health care they need which is only available in larger towns and cities.   Using the latest advances in satellite and internet technologies, reliable power backup, and customized software, SKY Health Centres enable remote diagnosis and audiovisual communication between rural patients and qualified city doctors at a Central Medical Facility. 

Each SKY Health Centre is established and run by a local woman entrepreneur in the village, working in close partnership with a male member of the family.  WHP assists the SKY Health Centre entrepreneurs by providing training, marketing, and technological support.  A steady flow of paying patients is assured through referrals by Sky Care Providers in the surrounding villages.  The entrepreneur makes a substantial initial payment and also takes a loan to establish a centre.  This ensures there is a direct stake in provision of care as well as the safety and maintenance of equipment.

 
Central Medical Facility
The Central Medical Facility houses a panel of experienced, accredited physicians who consult with clients in SKY Health Centres located in the villages of the WHP network. These doctors, many of them specialists, provide medical consultations to patients as well as training and education to local physicians.

This system not only benefits rural patients but also offers an opportunity for doctors and specialists to provide long-distance healthcare consultancy in their spare time and earn additional revenue.
 
Franchisee Clinics
Clients who require surgical or inpatient care involving specialized procedures and healthcare services that cannot be delivered via telemedicine are referred to the nearest Franchisee Clinic. Clinic doctors receive ongoing professional training and education through consultations with other physicians and specialists in the WHP network.
 
Diagnostic Test Laboratories
Diagnostic facilities throughout the project area support SKY Health Centers and Franchisee Clinics, enhancing quality of care and completing WHP’s comprehensive healthcare network.  Representatives of these centres visit the SKYHealth Centers on a pre-determined schedule to collect samples. Reports are delivered electronically to doctors at the Central Medical Facility.
 
Shops
Rural shops, most of them pharmacies, ensure that clients have access to all the medicines and products they need.  SKY Care Providers, SKY Health Centres, and Franchisee Clinics also have stocks of medicines and contraceptives, including condoms and birth control pills.  WHP plans to develop its own brand of medicines and health care products in the future.