Ilara health connects healthcare providers with diagnostic tools that improves the quality of medical care.
Digital startups are often created as a solution to a problem that most people cannot. Technology is meant to make our lives easier and is even meant to create revenue a lot faster than relying on traditional walk-inns. Illara health was created to improve the quality of healthcare and to connect doctors and pharmacists to patients.
Through smart financing options, Ilara Health connects these small businesses to revenue generating diagnostic assets that enable them to both develop their business and improve the quality of care they provide to their patients. Greater availability of diagnostic equipment not only has health benefits, but also enables clinics and pharmacies to boost their revenue by offering additional services to patients.
However, the cost of traditional diagnostic machines can run into tens of thousands of dollars, which is too expensive for Ilara’s customers. As informal businesses, these clinics and pharmacies do not enjoy the benefit of traditional financial services typically used by SMEs to support their growth.
To overcome this, Ilara has partnered with international manufacturers of next-generation small portable diagnostic devices, many of which integrate with mobile phones. The devices Ilara currently has in the market can diagnose infections as well as non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.
Despite its innovative business model, Ilara does face several hurdles.
One of these is the challenge of operating in areas where healthcare services are informal and disorganized. Understanding the dynamics of healthcare delivery in a low-income setting is challenging. Ilara also has to provide extensive training to its clients on how to operate the devices. They are all medical professionals and are great people but many of them lack a lot of knowledge. Most of them need to be trained before being fully integrated into the system.
Many of the successful tech-enabled companies in Africa that target informal, fragmented industries don’t just do one thing. They have multiple businesses in one business: there is a product to distribute, with financing to make the product more affordable as well as a technology platform on top of it all to streamline the process.