THE LIFENET WAY
LIFENET IS TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE WITH BUSINESS PRINCIPLES
Drawing on years of experience in the business sector, LifeNet was built upon principles of social franchising. When existing, locally owned and operated health facilities choose to join the LifeNet network, they 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 facility partners for mentoring, supportive supervision, and quality assurance. We form trusting relationships with the individuals at each health facility 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 and assessment tools. The QSCs cover key areas, including: service delivery; pharmacy operations; management; financial practices; safety and infection prevention and controls, measuring health facilities’ adherence to internationally recognized healthcare best practices.
We also measure health facilities’ 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 km 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 facilities, 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 all partners must be motivated. 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 key areas, including: service delivery; pharmacy operations; management; financial practices; safety and infection prevention and controls, measuring health facilities’ adherence to internationally recognized healthcare best practices. We also measure our training impact at each health facility. 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 work with 425+ health facilities across 6 countries and continue to deliver results through scale, innovation, and impact. Partner health facilities double the quality of care they provide to their patients within one year of partnership with LifeNet. And our partner network includes more than 425 health facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi and Burundi. Together they treat over 10,500,000 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 HEALTH FACILITIES ACROSS AFRICA TO PROVIDE QUALITY, SUSTAINABLE HEALTHCARE, BUT WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.
CONNECT WITH US
GLOBAL SUPPORT OFFICE
PO Box 21457
Washington, DC 20009
+1 (202) 480-9002
IN BURUNDI
26 Avenue Ngendandumwe
Bujumbura, Burundi
IN UGANDA
Princess 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
Off Presidential Highway,
Plot Number 116, Area 14
Lilongwe, Malawi
HEADQUARTERS
Jumuia Place
Lenana Road, Nairobi Kenya
IN GHANA
5, Kobla Nelson AV, Okuja Rd
Abofu, Achimota
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.