Case: Savannah Informatics: Innovating During The Covid-19 Pandemic (Stanford University Case, written by Dr. Justus Kilonzi, Dr. John Muthee and Professor Kevin Schulman)
Authors: Justus Kilonzi and John Muthee, Savannah Informatics, and Kevin Schulman, Stanford University
Corresponding Author: kevin.schulman@stanford.edu
Overview: This new Stanford University case highlights how Savannah Informatics in Kenya responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, seeking opportunity in the face of health care challenges. Savannah seeks to transform health care service by providing electronic services to health insurers, including verifying patient identification and eligibility. After a slow start after its founding in 2013, the company had found initial traction through contracts for the USAID and other agencies.
When the pandemic emerged in early 2020, Savannah needed to find ways to operate fully virtually. In doing so, the company developed a platform strategy that could respond to travel restrictions and supply chain restrictions within Kenya and around the world. The initiative targeted at linking healthcare finance, care delivery via telemedicine, disease management, and B2B services, while offering platform services to clients such as insurers, hospitals, patients, and digital innovators. At the time of the case, the company was considering three alternative strategies: (1) a transaction model built off telemedicine services; (2) a reinsurance model using electronic health records; and (3) an insurance model in which Savannah would become an insurance carrier.
The authors are Savannah’s CEO (Dr. John Muthee), COO (Dr. Justus Kilonzi) and Professor Medicine at Stanford (Dr. Kevin Schulman)
An earlier version (2016) of the case (HBS case 316-111) is available from Harvard Business School cases [ https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50381 ]
The new Savannah Informatics case will be available from HBS and is currently available from the corresponding author.