Healthforce

Access to quality healthcare is out of reach for the vast majority of South Africans due to high costs.

In South Africa, only 16% of the population can afford health insurance. Those who can't afford it rely on government clinics - often under-resourced, under-funded and overall a poor experience for patients where healthcare professionals are stretched, facilities are crumbling and medication frequently runs out.

What people say about the current system (government clinics):

"I wait in the queue for hours to see a doctor for 5 minutes and then there is no medicine for me because they have run out."

"The nurse shouted my condition to everyone in the waiting room - it was humiliating."

"The uncaring, overworked, unprofessional staff don't treat me with respect."

Our users report:

• lack of privacy
• poor record-keeping
• low standard of care
• long queue and wait times
• no advice or information on their condition, just medicine
• despite the service being free, it costs them time and money to get to a clinic and the whole experience is very stressful

This system affects the country's most vulnerable people, who simply have no alternative. Other sources of advice and care are a lottery of inexpert remedies.

• There are no reliable or well-known resources for healthcare advice - just the internet 
• Self-diagnosis is unreliable
• Home remedies are used but are often ineffective
• They get conflicting advice

This problem affects not only 10 million South Africans, but 75 million Africans across the continent.

Healthforce has several tech-based solutions that work together to increase access to quality care by lowering the cost of care.

Healthforce Clinic:

The Healthforce clinic solution empowers any health clinic to provide expert, affordable and convenient medical care to everyone at an affordable cost. Available at over 450 physical locations in South Africa currently, clinics can offer patients nurse-led care that is supplemented by a connection to a doctor, via video-call, when necessary. Up to 80% of health conditions can be solved by a nurse, at 25% of the cost of a doctor's visit. For the patient, they can visit their nearest clinic without an appointment, and usually only wait a few minutes to see a nurse in a private consultation room. The nurse performs administration, screening and any health checks that are required. If the patient requires a consultation with a doctor, the nurse logs on to Healthforce's "Videomed" portal and is connected to a qualified doctor in seconds. The doctor then consults with the patient via video call, and can provide advice, diagnoses, prescriptions or sick notes - all given to the patient within minutes.

Healthforce App "Kena Health":

The Healthforce app, branded "Kena Health" is a smartphone app that offers the Healthforce clinic solution directly to end consumers. Patients download and install the app, and can start a consultation with a nurse, doctor or mental health practitioner in minutes.

Healthforce Pharmacy:

The Healthforce Pharmacy solution, currently in development, re-imagines the Pharmacy experience for consumers by integrating pharmacy services (single patient record, dispensary) into the existing Healthforce Clinic and Healthforce App solutions.

The Healthforce solution can serve anyone, anywhere in South Africa through over 450 physical locations (health clinics) as well as via the Kena Health smartphone app. 

Our users are people who cannot afford the high fees of private healthcare.

In South Africa, a visit to the doctor in private practice costs between R450 and R650 (around USD 30 - USD 44). With Healthforce, the cost of a consultation is between R70 and R160 (USD 5 and USD 10). The solution addresses their needs by lowering the cost of care, as well as improving healthcare outcomes.

Healthforce Clinic: 

• B2B solution for health clinics located within pharmacies
• The pharmacies serve the general public within the geographic location of pharmacy health clinics

Healthforce App (Kena Health):

• A wide demographic aged 18-40, with a younger skew
• Women are more engaged in healthcare. They’re also often responsible for kids, parents & family care.
• More urban, living in a township in a major metro
• Lower-income, earning around R12,000 (USD 800) a month, without medical aid (health insurance).
• Active smartphone users, familiar with apps and online payments
• Under-served by quality healthcare services, seeing Kena as an alternative to public clinics 

Healthforce Pharmacy:

A B2B solution for large pharmacy chains as well as independent pharmacies.

Here are some examples of patients we have helped:

The little girl recovered fully within a month, and did not require surgery.

Our Founder & CEO: Saul Kornik

Saul Kornik has a varied background ranging from healthcare to technology, finance to machine learning and culture change.

He is the Founder and CEO of Kena Health, a health tech company that is bringing low-cost team-based physical and mental healthcare through smartphones to the uninsured.

He is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Healthforce, a health tech company that turns nurse-led clinics into effective, specialist health centres through smart algorithms and by easily connecting them to remote doctors. Healthforce sets nurses up as the single, low-cost entry point into the healthcare system. It effectively manages workflow for primary healthcare condition management, including providing real-time video connections between nurse clinics and virtual GPs. Healthforce-supported nurses have run over 1.8 million consultations and have completed over 135,000 telemedicine consultations with remote doctors.

Both Kena and Healthforce are patient-centric, reducing care costs, increasing access and convenience, and Improving and monitoring clinical quality.

Prior to Healthforce, Saul co-founded an organisation that worked to get doctors to where they are needed most. The organisation placed more than 4,200 doctors who served more than 34 million people, mostly in rural Africa in public service.

He is a 2008 Archbishop Tutu African Leadership Fellow, a 2013 Yale World Fellow and a 2016 Rainer Arnhold Fellow. 

Chief Technology Officer: Pheello Maboea

Pheello Maboea is the CTO (Chief Technology Offer) of Healthforce. Heading up the technology and engineering strategy to build software products that consumers love to use.

He has previous experience in strategic, technical and product experiences in various sectors. He has co-founded start-ups in fintech and data science. His corporate experience include management roles at Amazon Web services, Discovery, looking after mobile applications and Solutions Architecture at Rand Merchant Bank for their digital transformation programme.

Pheello has a BSc in Computer Science, a Post Grad Diploma in Management, a Diploma in Business Analysis and is completing his MSc in Computational and Applied Mathematics.

Some of our doctors:

We're hoping that if Healthforce becomes a Solver solution, the exposure and credibility gained will help us scale to new markets and exponentially increase the number of customers that we're able to serve.

Our solution is innovative because it focuses on TEAM-BASED healthcare. By using a team to treat our patients, we are able to lower the cost of care and improve patient outcomes.

Healthforce is smart way for doctors, nurses and patients to connect.

Healthforce Clinic:

Nurses:

A registered nurse is employed by the clinic and empowered with full training and support on how to use the Healthforce system.

Connect with doctors:

The clinic nurse sets up a remote video consultation with the doctor, after conducting any necessary physical examinations on the patient.

Doctors:

A group of carefully selected doctors situated remotely ready to deliver patient-centric health consultations.

The solution's innovative features:

• Easy-to-use patient record system
• Medical scheme wellness uploads
• Personalised nurse and clinic on-boarding and training with support available 7 days a week
• Any updates to patient data and medical information is instantaneously shared between nurse and doctor
• Web-based system with highly secure data storage
• Real-time video consultation and analysis of patient experience
• Electronic scripts, sick notes and referrals from Healthforce doctors

Healthforce App "Kena Health"

Consumers download the app, register and connect in minutes to a team of qualified nurses, doctors and mental health practitioners.

Every aspect of the app experience is designed to serve users with low-end smartphones. We optimise data usage on the app in order to provide consultations via text, call or video call so that consumers can afford to use the app whenever they are sick or need medical advice, without being hampered by the high cost of mobile data. 

We offer Kena Health users a way to get the healthcare they need at an affordable cost by:

• making the user experience very easy and intuitive
• giving them great value in terms of cost
• giving them care they love

Healthforce is a team working together to provide MORE patients with BETTER care. It's by combining our skills that we serve each patient in the way they really need - to get to better healthcare outcomes for more people.

We imagine better care and are unstoppable in looking for ways to make it a reality. 

New technologies are a way to serve patients better - so we keep it simple so that patients feel at ease. 

We believe that healthcare needs to change to allow EVERYONE access to affordable, quality care. For us, a little African ingenuity opens up new ways to care for patients better.

We want to serve 75 million Africans in the next 10 years with affordable, quality healthcare.

Healthforce progress:

In the 4 years since launch we have achieved the following:

• 450+ clinics across South Africa
• Located in all 9 provinces in South Africa
• 750+ nurses and pharmacists
• 26+ South African doctors and specialists
• 13+ years average experience
• 11 Official South African languages spoken fluently
• 18 000+ health insurance wellness checks done
• 1.8 million nursing consultations completed
• 135 000+ telemedicine consultations completed
• 2 minutes average waiting time
• Average consultation patient experience rating 4.95 out of 5

Kena Health launched on 9 March 2022.

Since launch, we have have had thousands of downloads, onboarded over 1000 new users and completed almost hundred consultations over smartphone in the last 3 weeks.

Our mission is to make high-quality, compassionate healthcare affordable and accessible for everyone.

Better Clinics:

Healthforce empowers clinics to provide expert, affordable and convenient medical care at the touch of a button. Nurses receive the training and support they need to improve their skills, while telemedicine doctors provide expert oversight. Real-time ratings on the system offer an easy way to monitor the quality of patient's experiences from start to finish.

Better Access:

Many South Africans living in rural areas don't have access to specialist medical care. Healthforce is helping patients in remote locations connect with qualified doctors where and when they need it most.

Better Business:

• Clinics benefit from Healthforce partnerships and receive income from telemedicine consultations
• Clinics experience increased volumes as the clinic's healthcare offering grows
• Clinics can enjoy more control over their finances with valuable insights into all earnings and expenses through the system.

Healthforce clinics are powered by a proprietary solution built by in-house software engineers. Our operations teams ensure that qualified doctors and nurses are available to meet patient needs either in person or through the platform. Our engineers have custom-built the Kena Health app and integrate services like AWS, Appsflyer, Braze and others to provide performance metrics.

Healthforce is an equal oppportunity employer and strives to provide an inclusive and diverse environment in which everyone is welcome.

Healthforce's business model relies on creating value through team-based care. Healthforce organises the clinicians, support and technology in a way that lowers the unit price to the end consumer (patient). The company then charges a small margin above the unit cost to the patient. This means that the business becomes more and more profitable as consultation volumes increase and the business scales.

B2B Healthforce Clinic model charges a licence fee per user per month.

For the Kena Health app, patients receive their first three consultations free, thereafter they pay R160 (around USD10) per consultation.

Healthforce is funded through venture capital, and believes it has the capacity to scale to the point where it can generate sustainable returns for investors through its fee-for-service model with clinics, patients and pharmacies.

Heathforce raised USD 3m in July 2021 to launch Kena Health and accelerate growth of Healthforce.

Over the last 2 years, we've scaled form 5000 nurse consultations per month to over 100 000 nurse consultations (Healthforce Clinic) per month. It is this scale that brings sustainable profitability. For the newer products, like Kena Health, we're following the same approach where we raise venture capital in order to reach the right volumes.