Frugal Innovations in Health Care Delivery

Although health care services in Mexico are provided free at the point of care, the public health system lacks the capacity to fully meet demand.But Mexico has one of Latin America’s most sophisticated telecommunications industries, as well as one of its fastest-growing middle classes. To the founders of MedicallHome, these two factors presented a market opportunity to expand access to health care through telemedicine.

India is home to Narayana Health, a chain of specialty care hospitals that delivers state-of-the-art medical services at a fraction of the cost charged here in the U.S. Sandy Hausman interviews Dr. Krishna Udayakumar of Duke University’s Global Health Institute, as well as Chandy Abraham, M.D., CEO of Health City, which offers high-tech, low-cost care in Grand Cayman.

MediCallHome is a subscription-based medical hotline that offers 24/7 to a doctor to resolve your minor medical issues. It's the model for a Spanish-language phone service for employers and consumers north of the border, too.

More than 60 percent of Brazil’s 200 million people are served by a model of primary care with community health workers at its center.

Brazil's community-based approach to primary care has yielded improvements in quality, access, and health outcomes, but the program faces capacity and financial constraints.