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A new independent study has found the first evidence that improving healthcare quality is linked to better business performance for health facilities, using data from SafeCare, our Quality Improvement programme.
The research was led by Professor Wendy Janssens, Professor in Development Economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, together with econometrician Dr Daniëlla Brals (Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development) and medical doctor and Senior Scientific Advisor Dr Patricia Gómez Pérez. It looked at 483 public and private facilities enrolled in SafeCare across Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, and Nigeria, examining whether rising quality scores were matched by growth in two key indicators: patient visits and staff numbers.
What they found
Facilities that improved their quality scores the most also saw the biggest increases in patient visits and staff. In other words, investing in quality appears to build patient trust, drive demand for services, and help facilities grow. The relationship likely runs both ways: facilities in a stronger financial position may also simply have more room to invest in quality improvements.
The link was strongest among facilities that had already reached higher quality levels. Facilities starting from a lower base tended to need more time, and more support, before seeing the same kind of gains.
Why it matters
The findings back up SafeCare‘s stepwise approach to quality improvement: it works best as a gradual, supported process, not a one-off fix. They also point to the importance of targeted investments, innovative financing mechanisms, and public-private partnerships to help lower-performing facilities strengthen quality, expand access to care, and better serve their communities across sub-Saharan Africa.
Read the full study in Frontiers in Health Services.
