APEX Medical Labs is assisting Malawians in obtaining specialized diagnostic healthcare
APEX Medical Labs, a health technology startup
Malawi is located in South-Eastern Africa and has an 83 percent rural population. This explains the government's strong reliance on public amenities, including health care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the government provides 67 percent of the country's healthcare, while the private sector barely covers the remaining 1% provided by non-profit organizations.
Diagnosis is a critical component of treatment, but the country's existing facilities lack the capacity for certain medical tests, or the equipment is inoperable when they are required. As a result, some physicians refrain from suggesting tests to patients, preferring to use alternative methods or advise them to travel outside the country.
In 2017, two medical laboratory technologists, Kundai Moyo and Taziona Mzumara, determined that this should not be the case and set about developing a solution.
“The majority of specialized tests were shipped to South Africa or India. Thus, we decided to address this gap or, more precisely, to ensure that our population has access to these diagnostic services closer to home and more quickly, while still receiving high-quality care,” explains Kundai Moyo, Co-founder and Operations Director at APEX Medical Laboratories.
Moyo's perspective on the situation stems from her 16 years of practice and the advice of several physicians.
“We conducted a survey of some physicians and discovered that the majority of the time, they do not utilize laboratory services, not because they do not require them, but because they are unavailable or, more often than not, are faulty,” she adds.
Establishing a niche
At first glance, the Malawi market appeared unripe for such intervention, given the country's small population of private hospital patients. There is an even smaller percentage of this population that can afford the service. However, Moyo quickly recognized that it could be leveraged to the startup's advantage.
“We are concentrating our efforts on those who can pay, but I believe there are additional opportunities. For example, public-private partnerships, as well as expansion into other cities, particularly for the tests that are unique to us, as we introduced tests in Malawi that were not previously available. Nobody else is currently providing them,” she boasts.
However, she needed to first develop the necessary capacity.
Moyo was admitted to the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative in July 2018 and spent three months learning the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. She views this knowledge as critical to the startup's progress.
The startup obtained business certification during the same time period, and the founders bootstrapped funds to secure a space. Additionally, they received their first set of test equipment.
With all of this in place, the startup devised novel methods for resolving the issue, ensuring that it occurred at the client's convenience.
“At APEX, we are motivated by this, and we want to ensure that we provide a cooperative service that is unique to Malawi, while also avoiding the export of client samples to India or South Africa. But at the same time, we offer a unique service in which our clients can be treated in the comfort of their own home or by the doctor of their choice without having to travel between clinics,” Moyo notes.
APEX Medical Laboratories' focus has shifted away from individuals who walk into the facility to request tests. Additionally, it is directed at private physicians, public and private hospitals, health insurance companies, and health organizations.
Interestingly, all of these entities have provided positive feedback.
“At the moment, only about 20% or less of visitors enter the facility. 80 percent of patients are referred from outside — from clinics, doctors, private physicians, hospitals, and organizations.”
According to Moyo, the startup now serves 3,000 people through 30 clinics, three health organizations, and several private physicians.
However, accomplishing this was not easy. At first, it required convincing hospitals and health centers of the company's services. Finally, as a form of collaboration, the startup strategically located a lab within another facility.
“We have other agreements with these large hospitals that do not offer the services they want us to provide—for example, HIV Virology PCR—under which we agree that they will refer all of their clients for this particular test to us,” Kundai explains.
This arrangement also applies to certain health insurance companies that would normally recommend tests for their international clients.
Bespoke service delivery
A client may be required to spend between $5 and $100 depending on the test requested from the 86 medical tests offered by APEX Medical Laboratories.
The lab receives requests for mobile (on-the-go) and home test services via messaging platforms such as its website, social media platform, and WhatsApp — from which it can track a client's location.
The startup has grown steadily since its inception.
“In terms of growth, I believe we expanded even when we were losing money. From 2018 to 2019, I believe we increased by about 300 percent; from 2019 to 2020, we increased by about 400 percent; and from 2020 to 2021, we increased by about 95 percent.”
According to Moyo, the startup generates up to $15,000 in monthly revenue but will not turn a profit until 2020.
On the strength of its demand management — even other laboratories outsource to the startup — the startup has received some external funding.
In 2019, following revenue, the startup entered the Growth Accelerator Malawi entrepreneurship challenge and was awarded a $48,000 grant. In 2020, it will receive grants totaling $16,000 from the Malawi Entrepreneurship COVID Challenge. Additionally, it gained exposure through a program organized by the Yale African Startup Review, a publication devoted to Africa (YASR).
For the time being, the startup is limited to Malawi's capital city of Lilongwe. However, as capacity increases and funding becomes available, it plans to expand to Blantyre by June 2021.
Leveraging other tech solutions
Apart from standard test equipment, the startup has acquired multi-purpose machines.
For example, in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the government authorized the startup to conduct COVID-19 tests, the lab adapted HIV testing equipment to conduct COVID-19 tests.
Apart from that, APEX Medical Laboratories has implemented a data management system.
“What we refer to as the laboratory information management system, or ELDS, is where we store information about the client, their condition, the doctor who requested the test, and the type of test,” Moyo explains.
Doctors referring patients to the lab will eventually be able to quickly access the medical histories of new and returning clients. According to the founder, the startup intends to heavily leverage this in the future.
“We're using it to better understand diseases because you'll be responding to the client's needs in terms of which services to prioritize, which are critical for the diverse population,” she adds.
Apart from the convenience this provides for clients, the system also aids the business in documenting and delivering services properly.
While the startup works to expand beyond six specialists, it has ambitious plans to expand into additional African countries by the end of 2024.
As is, Moyo and her team intend to continue evolving in order to expand the brand. She believes this is possible due to the country's conducive business environment, particularly for female entrepreneurs.
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