How Healthtech Company MDaaS Global is Providing Quality and Affordable Health Services to the Underserved in Nigeria

Recently,  health-tech company MDaaS recorded a stunning feat closing a seed funding of USD 1million. This feat was reported and celebrated by various media within and outside Nigeria not just because of the amount involved but rather the impact it will help the company make on the challenge-ridden Nigerian Health sector.  Innovation Village caught up with co-founder Oluwasoga Oni who in this interview gave more insight into what MDaaS is all about, the setbacks and strides attained plus more on the seed funding and what to expect from the company in the nearest future.

Can we meet the Founder(s) of MDaaS and what year was the company launched?

MDaaS Global is a health-tech company which was founded in 2016 by Oluwasoga Oni, Genevieve Barnard Oni, Opeyemi Ologun, and Joe McCord. The company was incubated at MIT’s Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship and was part of the inaugural Techstars Impact class of 2018. It launched its flagship diagnostic center, BeaconHealth Diagnostics, in Ibadan in November 2017.

What is MDaaS all about and what does it have to offer?

MDaaS Global seeks to build and operate modern, tech-enabled diagnostic centers in clinically-underserved communities starting with Nigeria. We specifically target low- and middle-income individuals living in urban and peri-urban areas. We offer high-impact and preventative diagnostics procedures such as digital x-ray, ultrasound, echocardiography, and full suite lab procedures.

What motivated the founding of MDaaS?

I (Soga) grew up in rural Nigeria in a family of doctors. I saw firsthand the challenges doctors and their patients faced to access the equipment they needed and the impact this had on care. Years later while a graduate student at MIT, I visited my dad’s hospital again and was inspired to find a solution to the diagnostics challenges he still faces today. With lifestyle diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes on the rise, Nigeria lacks the healthcare infrastructure to keep up with the growing and changing needs of patients. This is why MDaaS is catering specifically to low and middle-income patients who would otherwise not have access or be able to afford these services.

What is unique about the services MDaaS has to offer?

We feel that the great response we’ve had in the market so far comes down to the fact that we focus on providing the best patient experience at a price point that is affordable to our low and middle-income patients. We use technology (a diagnostic center management platform) to streamline patient visits, reduce wait times, and easily connect with our offsite specialists and our referring clinicians. We combine this use of technology with a human-centered experience for patients; everything from the way our receptionist greets you at the door, to the design of the waiting room, to the follow-up communication with patients is designed to “wow” our customers. We recognize that diagnostic testing can be a stressful and confusing experience for patients; our goal is for patients to feel cared for and supported before, during, and following a visit to our center. This attention to service has led to the results of an internal survey showing that over 95% of our patients would refer our services to a friend or family member.

How does MDaaS work?

MDaaS Global centers serve as the centralized diagnostic department for all surrounding hospitals and clinics in the community as most health facilities lack the economies of scale necessary to purchase and maintain their own diagnostic equipment. Our patients find us via several different channels: referrals, walk-ins, partner clinics and labs, employers, health insurance companies, and other partner organizations. Currently, about 80% of our patients pay out of pocket for care; for the remaining 20%, employers, insurance providers, or 3rd party organizations pay for some or all of their care.

What has traction been like since its launch? 

We launched our flagship diagnostic center in Ibadan in November 2017, and, to date, we have served over 10,000 patients. We currently receive referrals from 60 different hospitals, clinics, and labs in the community, in addition to serving walk-in patients and partnering with health insurance providers and employers.

What were the challenges encountered and achievements recorded so far since MDaaS launched?

About a year after launching MDaaS, we made a dramatic pivot in our business model, moving from an equipment sales and services company to a diagnostic service provider. In order to identify the need for and ultimately make this big change, we had to fully embrace the entrepreneurial mindset of “fail fast and iterate” and to keep our ultimate big vision in mind. Instead of falling in love with one particular solution, we fell in love with the problem: increasing access to diagnostics for low- and middle-income patients. When we saw that the vast majority of our equipment sales and service customers were serving only patients at the top end of the market, we knew we had to make a change. We had already built valuable expertise in sourcing, refurbishing, shipping, and maintaining medical equipment; this expertise and vertical integration became one of our competitive advantages as a diagnostic service provider.

Recently, it was reported in various media in Nigeria that MDaaS closed a significant seed funding. On the strength of this, what should people expect as it pertains MDaaS?

We will use this funding to replicate our diagnostic center model in four new cities in southwest Nigeria and build out the next version of our software platform. We’re excited to leverage everything we have learned over the past 18 months to bring high-quality diagnostics to thousands of more Nigerians while continuing to iterate on our model. I think one of the biggest contributors to our success thus far is our obsession with continuous improvement and with understanding the key drivers of our business.

What do you have to say about the evolving African tech/startup ecosystem particular the ecosystem in Nigeria and what do you think can be done to boost the growth of the ecosystem?

There has been a lot of interesting activities with the Nigerian startup ecosystem lately. However, it is still quite young and there is still a lot of work to do by all stakeholders. As entrepreneurs, we can look for opportunities to partner with and support one another by being each others’ customers, helping make introductions for one another, and sharing relevant funding opportunities and lessons learned from the field.