The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of several healthcare innovations by social entrepreneurs in India. However, one of the biggest challenges they face is moving from pilot to the scale-up stage and ensuring that the first user and the ten thousandth user, both have the same quality of experience.

To identify opportunities and challenges of scale for healthcare social enterprises, I was involved in a study1 of the sector, interacting with founders of social enterprises, government representatives, healthcare professionals, and health workers.

Drawing on that study, this article looks at what social enterprises can do to make the process of scaling up easier.

  1. Align the solution with national and state priorities
  2.  Innovate using technology, but with a public health lens
  3. Build evidence in favour of the product
  4.  Conduct pilots ethically and in accessible areas
  5. Engage the government early on
  6. Be diligent about government requirements
  7. Understand the adoption process and leverage government resources
  8. Try a bottom-up approach
  9. Partner with other organisations

It is imperative for innovators to focus on developing evidence for the efficacy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of their product, and partner early on with key stakeholders to meet the unmet and ever-growing needs of our country.

Innovations in health care are the need of the hour for a country like India, where communities live in remote regions and access is often a challenge. Though the path to scale has many roadblocks, social enterprises show promise in providing equitable access to healthcare.

Read the full article about tips for scaling by Anil Misquith at India Development Review.