The Problem
In Haiti, poor and low-income families have few options to seek high-quality, affordable primary care services. The health services market is dominated by low-quality public clinics, high-cost private clinics, and siloed and fragmented aid interventions. The WHO estimates that 91 percent of Haitians live within 5km of a health facility, but only 23 percent – including just 5 percent of the rural population – have access to high-quality primary care.%20and%20Jeanne%20Mercia%20Guerine%20Community%20Health%20Nurse%20(H5)%20.jpg)
The Solution
Care 2 Communities (C2C) has developed a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Haitian Ministry of Health (MOH) to rehabilitate the government’s community clinic network. They launched a “One Stop Shop” model in the northern region of Haiti and currently have six operational clinic sites serving a catchment area of over 225,000 people. C2C’s model incorporates patient treatment, lab testing and prescriptions under one roof. Through their PPP, C2C leverages the existing resources of the government (e.g., the clinic building, existing staff on the government payroll) and rehabilitates the operational systems that are necessary for high-quality primary care: inventory and supply chain, financial management, human resources (HR), technology and medical records, staff training, and community health and education.
C2C’s partnership with the Haitian MOH ensures that C2C will reach more families with effective, affordable, high-quality primary care. At their first PPP clinic in 2018, C2C lifted Haitian government quality scores from 40 to 80 percent (pre/post C2C involvement) and reached 90 percent cost-recovery in just 6 months. Through their PPP, they plan to rehabilitate 6+ additional clinics in the next three years.
C2C’s Electronic Medical Record System
One unique facet of C2C is their Electronic Medical Record system (EMR). C2C worked with partners and the Haitian Ministry of Health to create a customized system that ensures a holistic, accurate, and meaningful view of clinic data, and that can function in environments with low or zero connectivity. C2C is committed to introducing EMR systems into each clinic they operate. They have transitioned each clinic from a purely “pen and paper” system for patient records, procurement and administration to a completely electronic system that tracks a wider breadth and depth of data, including: patient diagnoses, treatments, clinic-patient interaction, lab tests, prescriptions, treatment results, and all business and financial data. Cloud-based dashboards fuel management collaboration. The C2C EMR was designed to successfully scale across Haiti as their clinic network grows..jpg)
What Makes C2C Special
C2C is distinctive because they have assembled a set of “ingredients” that by themselves are not unique but, when combined, are effective at improving access to high-quality, sustainable, affordable health care in the Western’s Hemisphere’s poorest nation. A number of organizations manage primary care clinics, operate “social enterprise” models that incorporate fee-based services, have negotiated partnership arrangements with the government, and even include community outreach to improve health outcomes. Some organizations also invest in improved facilities and capabilities (testing, procurement, supply chain and staff training) to assure a high-quality experience for patients. However, C2C is the only organization that combines all of the components above into one holistic model to improve health outcomes, ensure sustainability, and maintain an extremely high standard for quality. Their commitment to this “One Stop Shop” model saves patients time, lowers patient burden and significantly increases the likelihood of patient adherence to recommended treatments. Learn more about Care 2 Communities by checking out their website.