A top-to-bottom overhaul of management systems turned APROFAM, Guatemala's leading non-governmental (NGO) provider of reproductive health services, into a self-financed health care organization between 1996 and 2002.

Organizational re-engineering with MSH technical assistance and significant capital investments by USAID were the keys to expanding and diversifying health services. In addition to reproductive health services, APROFAM's 32 clinics now offer cardiology care, dental services, X-rays, and laboratories that produce test results for local doctors as well as clinic staff. Well-integrated billing, distribution, and commodities systems enable APROFAM central supply to fulfill drug and contraceptive orders within three days—a process that used to take three weeks. As a result of these improvements, the volume of service visits almost doubled—going from 600,000 to one million per year.

How were these spectacular gains in organizational performance achieved?

• Patient, long-range planning begun under the Family Planning Management Development Program (FPMD) and continued under M&L
   
• A shared determination to increase APROFAM's service coverage and improve its financial footing
   
• A productive, multiyear partnership among MSH, the USAID mission, and APROFAM

To learn how APROFAM achieved its goals for sustainability, download the APROFAM Evaluation Note [PDF - 690 KB]

» Read more about APROFAM

» Read more about how APROFAM applied a business model to contraceptive distribution

« More Stories from the Field