At Possible, we hold ourselves accountable. Everyday we are striving to do better for our patients, working tirelessly to improve our outcomes and deliver on our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
We are transparent until it hurts.
The United Nations has echoed similar sentiments, and is calling for humankind to be held accountable for one another. In September of 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); a framework for all countries and stakeholders to act upon collaboratively, with the common aim of ending extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Of the 17 SDGs, the most pertinent for Possible is Goal #3: Good Health and Wellbeing.
We’ve picked five targets of Goal #3 that Possible is striving towards achieving within our own catchment areas through our KPIs:
- By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
- By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births
- By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being
- By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes
- Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States
We created a model that extends beyond the walls of our hospitals. Our network of Community Health Workers (CHW) ensures that our patients receive high-quality care from hospital to home. CHWs run group Antenatal Care meetings to provide expectant mothers with all the information and support they require to have a safe pregnancy and delivery. They are also pivotal in encouraging mothers to give birth at a healthcare facility in the presence of a trained professional. This is the single most important proxy in reducing newborn mortality, and has also been linked to significant decreases in maternal mortality rates. We’re currently achieving an institutional birth rate of 78% in our catchment areas, which is well above the national average of 35%.
Following delivery, our CHWs facilitate group pediatric meetings for mothers and infants under one year of age, monitoring their health and development at 0–3, 3–6 and 6–12 months. In addition to being an incredible source of support for families, these meetings provide an excellent opportunity for our CHWs to openly discuss family planning & contraception options with reproductive-aged members of the community.
As we work to reduce maternal and child mortality rates throughout our catchment areas, access to medical interventions in the event of complications during childbirth, such as cesarean sections, is imperative. Access to surgery continues to exceed national standards and stands firmly at 100% — a statistic that we are very proud of. As a result of the grit and determination of our team, a full set of resources and hospital staff are readily available for surgery every day.
This year, we expanded our services at Bayalpata Hospital to include mental health support for those in need. We recognized the necessity to address the overall wellbeing of our patients, and in a culture where mental illness is heavily stigmatized, we are breaking barriers with our collaborative care model to solve for the whole patient. Once a patient has met with our psychosocial counsellors and a treatment plan has been established, our CHWs conduct follow up home visits to ensure that no patient falls through the cracks. This is true for all services that we provide at the hospital, with our CHWs regularly scheduling house calls with patients suffering from chronic diseases. Measured quarterly, we’re aiming to increase our follow-up rate to 90%.
At the heart of our durable healthcare model is our staff. We hire locally, providing countless employment opportunities in a region that was previously lacking. We’ve stimulated the economy in the areas surrounding Bayalpata Hospital. We’re expanding Bayalpata Hospital to become one of the leading teaching facilities in rural Nepal. But first and foremost, we’ve ensured that our work is sustainable, by hiring locals who understand the language, customs and culture of our patients, and who through continued training and development, can maintain an effective and innovative healthcare model in partnership with the government.
At Possible, we are proud of the remarkable innovations we have made for healthcare in Nepal. Join us over the coming weeks as we chronicle Possible’s journey towards achieving our KPIs, and in turn, contributing to the #GlobalGoals movement.
