THE LIFENET WAY
LIFENET IS TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE WITH BUSINESS PRINCIPLES
Drawing on years of experience in the business sector, LifeNet was built as a social franchise. We primarily work with existing, faith-based health centers that maintain their local owner/operate and convert to franchisees. These health facilities have access to LifeNet’s professional training, quality assurance, equipment and supplies, and branding. We provide comprehensive solutions to elevate the standard of care for millions of vulnerable patients. This structure enables us to leverage existing process, human, and physical capital for quick scale, high return on investment, and great impact for the health of millions of patients every year.
“We are business people first. We focus on high-level execution, efficiency, delivery of results and return on investment. Our strategy and decision making are built around these priorities.”
Michael Spraggins, Founder
THE LIFENET WAY
THE LIFENET WAY
TAKES A MULTIFACETED APPROACH
This business-minded and relational approach makes our model sustainable by ensuring behavior change and knowledge transference. Our hard-working team conducts regular visits to each of our health centers for mentoring, supportive supervision, and quality assurance. We form trust relationships with the individuals at each health center and work together to improve healthcare. We also continuously measure our partners’ performance and our training impact with quality scorecards (QSCs), developed from international standards of best practices. The QSCs cover three key areas: pharmacy operations; management; and clinical practices, measuring health centers’ adherence to internationally recognized healthcare best practices.
We also measure health centers’ improvement by assessing their implementation of the highest priority best practices that are internationally recognized to prevent the leading causes of disease and death. We assess these leading indicators, which represent key progression in the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up primary causes of morbidity and mortality, twice a year.
“I used to walk 20 miles to the nearest health center with a sick baby, only to find they don’t have the right medicine in stock. I then had to go back home and walk even further the next day. Thanks to LifeNet, I can now go to the health center and get the medication I need.”
– Patient from Nyagihotora Health Center
THE LIFENET WAY
THE LIFENET WAY
IS BUILT ON STRONG RELATIONSHIPS
This applies to all partners involved in our operations: churches, faith-based health centers, nurses, health center staff and our team. We practice the valued Burundian tradition of guherekeza. When friends leave your home, you walk with them until you are confident they will reach their destination safely. Our goals are ambitious, so our partners must be motivated too. Trust and the mutual desire to improve healthcare are non-negotiables. As an extension of our mutual relationship with God, we work together with existing faith-based facilities to transform the way they do business and care for their communities.
“When the LifeNet team comes to train us, we look forward to it. We know them. We sit together, eat together and then we learn together. They ask about my children and remember our patients. They care and that’s why I like working with them. When I completed my training, we all celebrated with Fanta.”
Nurse from a partner health center in Uganda
THE LIFENET WAY
THE LIFENET WAY
MEASURES AND ENGAGES
This approach makes our model sustainable. We measure partner performance with quality score cards that cover three key areas: pharmacy operations, management, and clinical practices. We also measure our training impact at each health center. Our hard-working team conducts regular visits to each of our partner health centers for mentoring, supportive supervision, and quality assurance.
“We really appreciate our partnership with LifeNet, because we see results. Our patients notice the difference in how good their care is. And we know we have improved because of LifeNet’s measurements. We recently found out that LifeNet’s QSC measured a 20% point improvement in our basic nursing care. LifeNet’s trainings have also improved our scores with the Ministry of Health evaluations. Last quarter we improved from 61% to 84%. It is the first time our center has received this high of a score!”
Leader of Bitare Health Center in Burundi
THE LIFENET WAY
THE LIFENET WAY
DELIVERS RESULTS
Within one year of launching operations in 2012, we expanded our partner network from 10 initial partner health centers to 40 health centers and hospitals in 14 provinces in Burundi, together seeing over 600,000 patient visits a year. In the same year, our partner health centers achieved 72% improvement in their quality of care. To date, our first cohort of 10 has shown improvement of 112%.
Today, we continue to deliver results through continued scale, innovation, and impact. Partner health centers double the quality of care they provide to their patients within one year of partnership with LifeNet. And our partner network includes 375 health centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi and Burundi. Together they treat over 7,000,000 patient visits per year.
All of our impact occurs at an average cost of less than $1 per patient visit.
IMPROVEMENT IN CARE
MATERNAL
32% 56%
Treating post-partum hemorrhage
NEONATAL
13% 94%
Nurses follow guidelines for neonatal resuscitation
25% 75%
Growth chart used for every child
43% 92%
Nurses can explain newborn risk assessment
22% 81%
Newborn’s entire stay at health center is documented
INFECTION PREVENTION
27% 75%
Nurses regularly wash their hands
23% 91%
Exposure testing protocol in place
27% 93%
IV fluid bag labeled correctly and site labeled with date and nurse initials
WE ARE TRANSFORMING AFRICAN HEALTH CENTERS TO PROVIDE QUALITY, SUSTAINABLE HEALTHCARE, BUT WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.
CONNECT WITH US
IN THE US
LifeNet International
PO Box 21457
2300 18th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
+1 (202) 480-9002
IN BURUNDI
LifeNet International
26 Avenue Ngendandumwe
Bujumbura, Burundi
IN UGANDA
Lifenet International Uganda
Princes Anne Drive, Plot 56 Bugolobi Kampala Uganda
IN DRC
No. 007 Av. Nyofu I, Q. Nyalukemba
C. Ibanda, Bukavu
Democratic Republic of the Congo
IN MALAWI
LifeNet International
Off Presidential Highway,
Plot Number 116, Area 14
Lilongwe, Malawi
IN KENYA
Lifenet International Kenya
Juimia Place
Lenana Road, Nairobi Kenya
IN GHANA
LifeNet International
30 Spiess Loop, McCarthy Hill
Accra, Ghana
EMAIL US: contact@lninternational.org
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SOCIAL INNOVATION IN HEALTH INITIATIVE
We were chosen as one of 25 high impact healthcare delivery solutions for the
2015 Social Innovation in Health Initiative, in partnership with the World Health Organization.