Maharashtra launches state-level 'living lab' for health innovation and quality, on Fadnavis's vision
The lab will work on health service quality and standards, test local solutions with communities and scale up what works, with skilling and jobs also in focus.
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Maharashtra has launched a state-level 'living lab' for health innovation and quality improvement, to advance the goal of 'health for all'. The initiative has come out of the vision of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The lab will focus on improving the standard of health facilities and adherence to quality norms. It will also look at creating skill development and employment opportunities for the state's citizens.
The platform aims to set local health priorities, work with communities to design solutions suited to their needs, and try out new approaches in the real health system. The experience and capacity of government, health service providers, the private sector, academic institutions, innovators and development partners will be brought onto a common platform. Fadnavis wants the existing health system and care pathways to be strengthened further. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital health, data and 'precision health' will also be used for this.
Linking the reach and capacity of the private health sector with public health priorities has been described as a key opportunity of the initiative. Through the participation of different stakeholders, solutions that are practical, affordable and easily accessible can be developed to suit local needs. The scope for extending successful solutions to other places beyond Maharashtra will be assessed. In later phases of the initiative, local skill development, employment and enterprise-building opportunities linked to community health needs will also be explored.
The vision stresses taking innovation to every citizen, including people in remote areas and groups that lack access to health services, rather than merely using new technology. Effective solutions will be tried out together with government, communities, innovators and partners, the experience gained will be analysed quickly, and the solutions that improve the quality and equity of health care will be scaled up widely.
The living lab will be developed as a platform for building evidence and for collaboration. Community needs and local ownership will be at the centre of the process, and coordination among innovation, the health system and the front-line service delivery components will be strengthened.
'Manyata', a flagship initiative of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India, is an early example of this approach. The initiative supports the government's efforts to strengthen maternal health care and shows how a private-sector quality improvement model can work with the public health system. MSD for Mothers is coordinating the initiative and is bringing together a group of partners to develop this shared model. Partnership will be used to turn innovation into practical and sustainable solutions that strengthen the system.
