Basic Healthcare Services: An Innovative Model For Primary Healthcare Delivery In Rural India - Case

Set in the year 2019, this case looks at the development of Basic Healthcare Services (BHS), a primary healthcare organization in India based out of Udaipur, Rajasthan, and its efforts to achieve sustainability. This case sheds light on the state of primary healthcare in India and, in doing so, unravels the underlying challenges of setting up and running a privately-led primary healthcare delivery organization in rural India catering to people at the bottom of the pyramid. It shows how building physical infrastructure alone is not enough to provide last-mile primary healthcare coverage to people living in the rural hinterlands. BHS, under the leadership of its Founder-Director Dr. Pavitra Mohan, engaged with rural communities to build their trust in allopathic healthcare and wean them away from pseudo-practitioners, and created systems that would address their health needs. This case gives readers a glimpse of Mohan’s formative years and the many challenges he had to overcome to realize his vision of providing affordable and accessible last-mile healthcare. One of BHS’s successful strategies was to engage with the communities it served and forge meaningful collaborations. A small but dedicated team of healthcare professionals and community workers delivered compassionate care and conducted outreach in poor rural communities. It relied on grant aid to finance its operations. The primary issue confronting BHS in 2019 was how to achieve financial viability and catalyze the growth of the organization.