About 81% of Nepal’s population lives in rural areas with no regular access to quality care. As a result, Possible Health developed an integrated rural healthcare delivery system in Nepal that delivers care to remote, low-income populations.
In this system, community health workers (CHWs) serve as spokes to reach rural communities, enrolling patients and providing follow up and continuity of care. CHWs use a mobile-based tool to access medical protocols and patient records through an open source electronic health record system that is linked with the coordinate care facilities, or hubs. Through a strong partnership with the Government of Nepal, Possible Health has been able to treat more than 500,000 patients and lower the cost per capita of care delivery from $48 to $35.
Meet Asmita Patwardhan, Possible Health’s Chief Partnership Officer:
Prompt: What inspired you to get into this line of work?
Asmita was born and raised in India and spent some time as a journalist covering issues related to public health in Mumbai. After she finished graduate school in the U.S., she worked for brief period in investment banking but learned very quickly that what she really wanted to do was work in the global health and development space.
Prompt: In one sentence, summarize what you or your organization hopes to achieve over the next 3 years.
Advance integrated healthcare delivery as a viable model for low income countries, get their integrated hospital-to-home electronic health record adopted in multiple municipalities across Nepal and successfully support the Government of Nepal to adopt a professionalized, paid Community Healthcare Worker model for national scale.
Prompt: Is there a book, movie, song, or person that inspires you?
Asmita finds anyone that demonstrates grit and perseverance as inspirational. She believes that is the single most important characteristic for success.
Asmita Patwardhan of Possible Health