At LifeSpring, mothers and babies are treated with the highest standard of care.
The Challenge
- Despite India's great developmental strides, maternal mortality and morbidity levels remain among the highest in the world. Only 43% of Indian women are cared for by a skilled attendant during birth.
- Public financing and provision of healthcare services have been the basis for Indian government policy, but the public system has well-recognized problems such as lack of access to low-income communities, poor quality and coverage, and an inadequate focus on maternal and child health.
- Since few policies clearly define the role of the private sector, many questions have arisen regarding the quality and legality of some private healthcare providers, and even their possible exploitation of the poor.
The Innovation
- LifeSpring is a network of Maternity and Child Healthcare hospitals that provide vital reproductive and pediatric healthcare to low and lower-middle income people in urban and peri-urban areas, with a focus on delivering high quality, low-cost services to women and children in slum areas.
- LifeSpring is a joint venture between Acumen Fund and Hindustan Latex Limited, a public sector company in India. Its model rests on building a
chain of small hospitals (20-25 beds) across India.
- The rates charged by LifeSpring Hospitals for general ward patients are less than one-third the market rate for normal deliveries and half the rate for caesarian deliveries.
The Impact
- Over the next three years, Lifespring will set up 30 hospitals across the country to provide comprehensive obstetric and pediatric care, as well as ambulance, pharmacy and laboratory services.
- With 65% of every hospital’s bed capacity reserved for general ward patients, LifeSpring will create significant social impact. At 100% capacity, each hospital will serve nearly 5,000 low-income patients every year. LifeSpring also expects to provide outpatient services to more than a million people over five years.
- By improving patient outreach and the quality of care available, LifeSpring’s goal is to significantly increase hospital-supervised deliveries and to reduce maternal and child mortality and morbidity rates in the communities that it serves.
- In the future, LifeSpring also plans to use a franchising model to greatly expand the number and geographic coverage of its hospitals.