Last mile delivery in Healthcare refers to the Healthcare services provided to the Tribal, Rural and people from other Underprivileged regions by the service Provider.

In healthcare supply chain, the last mile has proven to be the greatest challenge in terms of meeting the goal of access equality. People living in these areas lack the basic facilities required for human development. Transport system is poor and so do reliable water supplies or electricity. Access to primary health care facilities is missing in their lives. With the critical nature of delivering care here at the last mile, Dhanush feels providing primary healthcare at these regions is paramount to overall success of global health and humanitarian supply chains.

ROLE OF LAST MILE DELIVERY SYSTEM:

Dhanush has an innovative, comprehensive and state-of-the-art program, the last mile delivery system that reaches the rural and tribal point-of-care. Through this system Dhanush adequately accesses and provides health care and treatment, supply of medicines and emergency surgical equipment for day-to-day medical needs of the under-privileged population.

Automatic Medicine Dispensation System, an Innovative Solution by Dhanush, ensures the poor patients get the Medicine Supplies. Our digitally-enabled system has also eliminated a lot of slow, labour-intensive and error-prone paperwork for hospitals and medical centres as well as better control over order-to-payment cycle.

LAST MILE DELIVERY CHALLENGES:

• Inadequate infrastructure facilities like Roads, Power and Network Connectivity in remote rural and tribal areas, making it difficult for reliable supply of medicine and care
• Unclear program with little prioritization by health facility
• Poor execution of storage guidelines and space management in remote villages
• Lack of appropriate equipment and maintenance for storage and handling of products in rural areas
• Shortage of clinicians and trained personnel in rural and under-privileged areas
• Cultural barriers are often challenging as rural remote villages are manifested with superstitious beliefs, ignorance, lack of education and awareness regarding diseases and treatments
• Language barriers as people and providers are often from different backgrounds
• Financial access and physical access are main hindrances, Poverty issues reign remote Indian villages and lack of health providers, medicines and devices add to the woes

GOALS TO ACHIEVE:

• Dhanush strives to create connections that allow the last mile to be transparent, accessible and equitable
• Dhanush aims to provide holistic care to the remote tribal population, not disease driven care
• Smart use of new care-delivery venues and systems will certainly eliminate barriers
• Use and implementation of diagnostic methods, drug delivery system and medical devices in the rural villages offer the hope of better treatment and care that is less costly and easily accesible
• Ensure sufficient supply of physicians either in-person or virtual, trained nurses and ANMs( auxiliary nurse midwives) in the tribal areas and low-income point-of-care
• Emphasis of a preventive and promotive healthcare system that is comprehensive, proactive and afordable
• Creation of autonomous structures to govern finance and funding and integrate management and funding across different levels of care
• Awareness and education camps to be set up in rural and tribal areas to educate the community on disease management, hygiene, vaccinations, etc.
• An integrated approach which combines technology, improved clinical protocols and patient engagement at the last mild would lead toward success
• Provide improved primary care with preventative, diagnostic, curative and referral facilities in the less- advantaged remote villages and empower nurses and paramedics at the last mile