Altruistech Solutions

According to Venilla Yoganathan (2023), over 10,000 qualified doctors are unemployed in Africa, with Kenya and South Africa accounting for most of this percentage. Over 1000 doctors graduate annually In Kenya. But as of March 2023, around 41.5 percent of the qualified registered doctors are unemployed. 37 percent of these unemployed doctors search for jobs in the healthcare gig market. The reason for this massive unemployment is that the medical setup in the country cannot afford full-time employment with benefits. Five percent of Kenya's GDP is from the healthcare sector. But only $2M from the national budget is allocated to this sector. 

Academic research has shown that the most significant contributor to poor access to healthcare services is the low staffing issues in private and public hospitals. Due to this issue, on a scale of 1 to 5, Kenya ranks 2.5  on the healthcare inequality index. Thus leading to over 60 percent limited access to health care services. In addition, we learned from research that the ratio of doctors to patients in private and public hospitals in Kenya is 1:18 per day. Marginalized communities are the ones severely affected by this problem. For example, women in rural areas have little or no access to medical services, and poor access to healthcare services accounted for 32 percent of the deaths in the country in 2020, most of which are from underserved groups.

Altruistech is an offline mobile application that uses cybersecurity technology to connect private and public hospitals with qualified doctors in the healthcare gig market. Altruistech has three major components:

1. Connecting gig doctors to private and public hospitals: our application allows doctors to log in. Based on their subscription package and location, they are given recommendations to the nearest hospitals that need a gig worker. It also allows them to adjust their availability and the gig jobs they have completed for the day. They also get reviews, which are used as an assessment to be fully employed.

2. Connecting private and public hospitals to gig doctors: altruistech application allows hospitals to look for and hire gig doctors. They have the privilege of checking the profile and reviews of a gig worker before hiring.

3. Connecting gig doctors to patients: this application has a feature that connects gig doctors to patients directly at their doorstep. For instance, a patient can log in to this application and negotiate and hire a gig doctor for home services at any time and place.

In addition to these components, the application has a feature that stores medical patient data, allowing the medical patient to share their records with a gig doctor to help understand their problem and give the proper diagnosis. Our super-premium package offers AI for predictive medicine and psychotherapy for mental health issues. This package is free for underserved groups such as refugees, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Aside from unemployed doctors in the gig market, Altruistech also caters to doctors with specialized skills that have time to perform home services to a medical patient. Furthermore, gig doctors earn points for any positive review they get, and these points are used to administer free medical services to children.

Altruistech's solution target population is divided into four;

1. Healthcare gig workers: The healthcare gig workers include medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and other healthcare professionals who work on a part-time or freelance basis, and they are underserved in terms of employment. These workers face challenges finding consistent work opportunities and generating revenue commensurate with their skills and expertise. The solution impacts their lives by giving them access to various job opportunities that can help them generate revenue.

2. Private and Public Hospitals: These groups are underserved regarding access to medical staff. Altruistech's solution helps to ensure that healthcare facilities have access to a pool of skilled and reliable workers. This, in turn, can help improve the quality of patient care.

3. Refugees, children, and LGBTQ+ individuals: These groups are underserved in access to equal medical services. Altruistech helps ensures that refugees, children, and LGBTQ+ individuals have equal access to medical services, the same as other groups, and at a more affordable and accessible rate.  For instance, access to medical services is free for children and refugees, and 60 percent of our services are free for LGBTQ+ individuals and women.

4. Medical patients: over the years, there has been an issue of health data fragmentation in Kenya, and 27 out of the 47 Kenyan counties had significant challenges in keeping patient data, as 84% of the public and private health service providers' platforms were fragmented. Altruistech address this issue by providing safe and secured patient data storage features that gives patient 100 percent ownership of their data.

Two of Altruistech's team members are healthcare gig workers, and they are in connection with a handful of unemployed healthcare workers. The team mentor works with N.G.O.s that promote good healthcare services in private and public hospitals, and three of our members, including the team leader, are from the LGBTQ+ and refugee communities. This shows the diversity in the team and how every target audience is represented by someone from the community.

To understand the needs of these groups, and before our idea validation, we adopted the human-centered design approach by engaging in 1v1 and focus group discussions to understand their pain points and the steps they have taken to address their needs. Through this approach, we collected suggestions/ideas/input from them, and these inputs have significantly guided our solution design and implementation. For example, one of our focus group discussions with LGBTQ+ individuals made us realize that some are not attended faster, even if they have money.

We have validated our idea, and our first prototype has been tested at the Kenyatta National Hospital. In June 2023, we will launch our MVP 2.0, including integrating features for medical patients.

It has been tested by 70 gig workers and one public hospital. We are currently upgrading it to launch our MVP 2.0

Solve’s mission is to drive innovation to solve world challenges. It is a marketplace for social impact innovation that values inclusivity and human-centered design. Altruistech currently has several challenges ranging from finance to technical expertise. Therefore, we are applying to Solve to tap into its network of MIT experts that will help us develop our solution. Furthermore, we aim to expand outside Africa. With the experts at Solve, we can break market barriers and succeed in new markets. But most importantly, it will allow us to pitch to investors and gain partnership opportunities that can help improve brand awareness and accelerate our impact.

Altruistech's solution is innovative in several ways. Firstly, it leverages mobile technology to provide an offline mobile application for the healthcare gig economy in Kenya. This enables gig workers to access employment opportunities and generate revenue even without access to the internet. Secondly, the solution aims to provide gig workers with an income comparable to employed doctors in Kenya. This is a significant improvement over the current situation, where gig workers often struggle to make ends meet. Thirdly, the solution targets private and public hospitals, expanding the potential customer base for gig workers and creating new employment opportunities.

Altruistech's solution could help formalize and regulate the healthcare gig economy in Kenya, improving working conditions and reducing the risk of exploitation for gig workers. it could help to address the shortage of healthcare workers in the country, which is a significant challenge for the healthcare system. Finally, it could create new opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation in the healthcare sector, as gig workers may be able to develop new products and services to meet the needs of their customers.

Altruistech's solution can potentially change the market by creating a more level playing field for healthcare gig workers in Kenya. It could help to improve the livelihoods of these workers while also expanding access to healthcare services for patients who might otherwise be underserved. Additionally, it could serve as a model for other countries or industries looking to leverage mobile technology and the gig economy to address workforce shortages and create new opportunities for employment and innovation.

Our goals over the next 12 month is to:

1. Integrate our features and test;

2. Capture 120 gig workers in the first 6 months;

3. And reach 500 people in 1 year.

In five years, our aim is to:

1. Improve the employment rate of healthcare gig workers in Kenya by providing 10,000 job opportunities annually through our offline mobile application.

2. Increase the income of healthcare gig workers by 20% by providing them with job opportunities to generate revenue at the same level as employed doctors in Kenya.

3. Improve access to quality healthcare services for 1 million low-to-middle income patients annually in Kenya by providing them with affordable and convenient healthcare services through our platform.

3. Collaborate with at least 50 public and private hospitals in Kenya to provide them access to a pool of trained and qualified healthcare gig workers to fill staffing gaps.

4. Provide at least 10,000 hours of training and professional development opportunities to healthcare gig workers annually to improve their skills and knowledge.

And this could be achieved through partnerships and collaborations with healthcare providers and institutions.

1. The number of healthcare gig workers using the Altruistech mobile application

2. Increase in income of healthcare gig workers using the Altruistech mobile application compared to their previous earnings.

3. The number of healthcare facilities (public and private) partnering with Altruistech to hire healthcare gig workers.

4. Reduction in the vacancy rate of healthcare positions in hospitals partnering with Altruistech

5. Patient satisfaction rates in hospitals partnering with Altruistech (as a potential proxy for improved healthcare quality)

6. The number of healthcare gig workers who receive training and upskilling opportunities through Altruistech

7. The number of women and underrepresented minorities employed in healthcare gig work through Altruistech

8. Reduction in the number of patients who have been turned away due to staffing shortages in hospitals partnering with Altruistech

9. These indicators can be tracked over time to assess the impact and effectiveness of Altruistech's solution.

If Altruistech successfully launches and scales its offline mobile application for healthcare gig workers in Kenya, then it will increase access to healthcare for underserved communities, create employment opportunities for gig workers, and ultimately improve the quality of care for patients.

This will be achieved by:

1. Providing a platform for gig workers to offer their services in a flexible manner, allowing them to earn more income and provide care to more patients.

2. Reducing the workload and stress on healthcare professionals by allowing gig workers to fill in the gaps in staffing, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes.

3. Increasing the availability of healthcare services in underserved areas, where traditional healthcare providers may not have been able to reach them.

4. Providing a convenient and affordable solution for patients, which could potentially reduce healthcare costs and increase patient satisfaction.

Through these efforts, Altruistech will have a positive impact on the healthcare sector in Kenya, leading to improved health outcomes for patients, increased economic opportunities for gig workers, and potentially catalyzing broader positive impacts from others in the space.

Software and mobile application technology and Artificial Intelligence

We have representatives from every community/group, and diversity is the core of our values. For instance, our team has an LGBTQ+ refugee, and it is mainly women.

Value Proposition: Altruistech provides an offline mobile application for the healthcare gig economy in Kenya, offering part-time and full-time employment opportunities for healthcare gig workers while addressing hospital staffing issues. The solution enables gig workers to generate revenue at the same level as employed doctors and provides access to healthcare services for underserved populations.

Customer Segments:

• Private and public hospitals in Kenya with low staffing levels
• Healthcare gig workers in Kenya who want to earn revenue while utilizing their skills
• Underserved populations in Kenya who lack access to healthcare services

Revenue Streams:

• Subscription fees from hospitals for using the Altruistech platform to access healthcare gig workers
• Commission fees from healthcare gig workers for each job or appointment they book through the platform
• Fees charged to hospitals and healthcare gig workers for premium features and services on the platform

We depend on grants to launch this idea, and after that, we will reach break even in 1 year, and we will be financially stable through subscriptions for the different packages.