Building a Distributed Health Network

What M-Pesa for Healthcare looks like

Hi Friends,

This is the long awaited future of healthcare issue.

It was harder to write, because I have spent the last ten years thinking about it and the pressure was on to go deep, and help you see what I see.

Over the years I’ve spoken with many people about what it will take to “disrupt” healthcare— to “leapfrog” expensive systems the way most of Africa has done with mobile phones over landlines.

I think hyperlocal networks paired with nationwide distribution has a real role to play in this future of healthcare. These networks, distribution and trust are the unsung heroes of the few tech successes that we have seen take off in Africa.

This week’s essay is all about what I think M-Pesa got right in Kenya, and why that matters for anyone thinking about how to scale-up their tech businesses in this region. Spoiler alert: It’s about more than having the right app!

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The M-Pesa of Healthcare

M-Pesa is simply a platform that facilitates a distributed network, which is exactly what is needed for healthcare.

This article shows a hopeful vision for building healthy, connected communities but it is about more than just healthcare. It shows how companies looking to scale in emerging markets need to focus on more than their tech. They need to focus on distribution, networks and trust.

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Innovation Spotlight

This one is a shout-out to mDaktari in Kenya, and our new CEO there Daphne. Telemedicine has always helped Access Afya Clinical Officers call specialists from our clinics to get advice on specific patients and cases.

Last year, we opened this up directly to anyone in Kenya through voice and video calls. We had about one person a day use the service.

This past month, 926 people signed up bringing mDaktari to over 7k subscribers with 115 actively talking to us that month.

What insight unlocked this growth? We needed to let people chat with us before having a live consult with a doctor. Building in a text message like feature on our telemedicine app made the service familiar, easy to start using and let you “try before you buy.”

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Where’s Melissa?

Last weekend I traded the southern coast for a northern hike out of Mortehoe and learned about the annual “yarnbombing” of post boxes in Budleigh that help raise money for charity.

Until next time,

Melissa 

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What do you think the future of healthcare looks like? Leave me a comment!

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