Healy Nurse’s Business Model – Direct Sales

Healy Nurse’s business model is direct sales (cash payment).

Under the direct sales business model, we generate revenue through our network of nurses who provide home healthcare directly to our clients. And they pay cash for our services.

We chose direct sales because of the purchasing power of our target market. We used income for selecting our target market, including the entire segment of 83 million Nigerians earning NGN137, 430 (USD 381. 75) per year. This number is based on The World Bank Living Standard Measurement Study.

At the risk of using broad categorizations, we classify our target market into two groupings:

1. The Lower-Middle-Class: Those who belong to the lower-middle-class category primarily access private hospitals and general hospitals.

2. The Lower-Class: Most of the lower-class access state general hospitals, chemist shops, drug hawkers, and traditional health practitioners that are ubiquitous in society.

However, their healthcare-seeking behaviour is not static. There are cases where the lower-middle-class segment seeks healthcare associated with the lower class and vice versa.

Why did we choose direct sales but not healthcare insurance payments?

The two factors responsible for that are:

1. Health insurance penetration in Nigeria.

Most Nigerians pay out-of-pocket for access to healthcare—over 170 million are without healthcare insurance.

2. Microeconomic factors in the health insurance industry.

Specifically, these are factors within healthcare insurance enterprises—private companies and public-service institutions.

Some of these microeconomic factors, which are visible to people within the industry, include:

* The burden of bureaucratic paperwork

* Slow reimbursement from insurance companies and health maintenance organizations (HMOs)

* Healthcare reimbursements are usually lower than the cost of providing healthcare services

(Please note that I do not intend to malign policymakers, regulators and operators in the health insurance industry. I am simply stating what available data shows)

In conclusion,

At present, our business model is direct sales (cash payment). However, we might adopt health insurance payments in the future.

And this will only happen after our political institutions, having powerful incentives, create a deep and inclusive healthcare industry.