Merrygold Health Network aims at creating access to low cost good quality Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services by networking with Private health service providers as franchisees.
Family Planning services through accredited private clinics in Bihar
Family Planning services through accredited private clinics in Bihar
Existing or expanding (post-pilot)
Target income level
- Bottom 20%
Summary
The family planning program has been implemented through existing government hospitals since 1965. It was created in order to facilitate and put a high focus on the scale up of healthcare initiatives.Program goals
Under the Family Planning Program sterilization procedures are conducted free of cost in government hospitals and additionally, an incentive is paid to the person undergoing the procedure. However, the capacity of government hospitals has limited the spread of these services. To bridge this gap, the Government of Bihar has initiated a program under which private clinics are accredited to conduct sterilization procedures. The overall objective of the program is to bring down the TFR in Bihar to an ideal rate of 2.1, (currently 4.0)
Key program components
Operating Model
The government of Bihar issued a notification inviting private clinics interested in providing sterilization services to become accredited by the Department of Health and Family Welfare. A quality assurance committee of the district health society comprising of a civil surgeon and district program manager evaluated each private facility. For conducting the sterilization, the private clinics are paid Rs. 1500 per procedure (both male and female). A monthly report is submitted to the district health society, and a copy of the same is forwarded to state health society for reference. Additional incentives of INR 500 per patient is paid if more than 30 procedures are conducted on one single day by any private clinic.
The minimum criterion was the ability to conduct two sterilizations per day on designated days. While implementing this program the medical community, i.e. members from Indian Medical Association (IMA) & Federation of Obstetricians & Gynecologists society of India (FOGSI) were involved.
As of May 2010 about 135 facilities were accredited. Some private clinics that specialized in the process of sterilization started expanding their services through franchising, partnering with local clinics and service providers. The criteria were flexible with regards to some parameters such as infrastructure but there were no compromised on clinical parameters.
Contract may be terminated for following reasons
Not performing number of procedures as per contract.
Charging from the patient and claiming from the government.
22,050 procedures were conducted in 15 months in 135 private clinics.
Financials
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