Description of Innovation

With 80% of health expenditures in India paid out-of-pocket, health catastrophes are the single largest cause of poverty in the country and India’s urban poor are particularly at risk. They are two to three times more likely than rural poor to experience non-communicable diseases, the second largest cause of death in India.

Swasth India operates a chain of primary care centers in urban slums and adjacent low-income areas. Their one-stop-shop model provides primary and preventive care for half the cost of prevailing market rates. Each Swasth Health Center provides services in a 150 square-foot facility, offering access to a family doctor, rapid diagnostics on site, discounts on drugs, referrals with discounts, and electronic health records.

Swasth India reduces healthcare spending in three ways: 1) a 50% reduction in out-of-pocket costs; 2) prevention and early diagnosis of non-communicable diseases; and 3) locating clinics in the communities of the urban poor, reducing indirect costs for patients, such as travel. Swasth currently operates 8 Health Centers in Mumbai slums. Over the next three years, Swasth plans to expand to 60 Health Centers, reaching 75% of Mumbai’s poor and saving patients USD $2.5 million.  

 

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