Date of talk or publication:
November 2005
November 2005
Organization:
World Resources Institute
World Resources Institute
Description:
The non-profit HealthStore Foundation (HS) (formerly Sustainable Healthcare Enterprise Foundation) was founded in 1997 to “prevent needless death and illness by sustainably improving access to essential medicines.” HS’s sixty-four for-profit HealthStore franchises serve roughly 400,000 patients per year; by 2008, it plans to expand its network to over 200 locations serving 1.5 million patients per year.
Each HealthStore franchise is owned and operated by a licensed nurse practitioner or by a community health worker with a nurse on staff, enabling outlets to offer a wide range of products and services. With locations in underserved villages and urban areas throughout Kenya, HealthStore clinics provide access to much-needed healthcare, while generating enough revenue to pay their nurse-owners and staff a competitive annual salary.
The HealthStore micro-franchise model gives local entrepreneurs the opportunity to own and operate sustainable, profitable businesses while simultaneously curtailing incentives for corruption, as franchisees risk losing their business if they fail to comply with franchise regulations. By aligning the incentives of customers, government regulators, and owner-operators, HealthStore’s franchise model is able to deliver a high quality of care to previously underserved Kenyans while realizing a healthy return on investment.
Read the full-length business case study, What Works: HealthStore's Franchise Approach to Healthcare - Harnessing the profit motive to deliver public health in Kenya by downloading the PDF file found below. Case study authors Michelle Fertig and Herc Tzaras share their thoughts on healthcare delivery at the BOP in an in-depth interview.
The non-profit HealthStore Foundation (HS) (formerly Sustainable Healthcare Enterprise Foundation) was founded in 1997 to “prevent needless death and illness by sustainably improving access to essential medicines.” HS’s sixty-four for-profit HealthStore franchises serve roughly 400,000 patients per year; by 2008, it plans to expand its network to over 200 locations serving 1.5 million patients per year.Each HealthStore franchise is owned and operated by a licensed nurse practitioner or by a community health worker with a nurse on staff, enabling outlets to offer a wide range of products and services. With locations in underserved villages and urban areas throughout Kenya, HealthStore clinics provide access to much-needed healthcare, while generating enough revenue to pay their nurse-owners and staff a competitive annual salary.
The HealthStore micro-franchise model gives local entrepreneurs the opportunity to own and operate sustainable, profitable businesses while simultaneously curtailing incentives for corruption, as franchisees risk losing their business if they fail to comply with franchise regulations. By aligning the incentives of customers, government regulators, and owner-operators, HealthStore’s franchise model is able to deliver a high quality of care to previously underserved Kenyans while realizing a healthy return on investment.
Read the full-length business case study, What Works: HealthStore's Franchise Approach to Healthcare - Harnessing the profit motive to deliver public health in Kenya by downloading the PDF file found below. Case study authors Michelle Fertig and Herc Tzaras share their thoughts on healthcare delivery at the BOP in an in-depth interview.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| HealthStore.pdf | 839.84 KB |
| HealthStore ExecSum.pdf | 93.48 KB |
