ALL ABOUT PROGRAMS
The process and research we do to ensure hospitals are ready to be SIGN Programs.
From Application to Program: How hospitals join the SIGN Family
An interested hospital submits a SIGN Program Application to our Programs & Education Department (P&E).
P&E receives the completed application, researches the hospital and surgeons, asks relevant questions, and assembles an agenda for the SIGN Program Committee.
The SIGN Program Committee typically meets once a month. This allows enough time for P&E to receive applications and gather enough information to make informed decisions.
After a hospital is approved by the SIGN Program Committee, P&E finishes the activation process and a new SIGN Program in started!
WHAT ARE SOME FACTORS P&E AND THE PROGRAM COMMITTEE CONSIDER?
Location: Location goes beyond what country a program applicant is located in. When approving a program, factors such as shipping and proximity to other SIGN Programs must be taken into consideration. If the hospital is in a new region for us, we have to have reliable shipping to the area. The Program Committee also wants to avoid an over-saturation of SIGN Programs in one place. Starting new programs in locations without a SIGN Program creates benefits for more patients and surgeons.
Type of hospital and patient base: There are five different hospital types we see on SIGN Program Applications. These are Government, Referral, Charity, Teaching, and Private. It is also common to see a mix of these types, such as Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya. At the heart of SIGN is caring for patients who cannot afford the orthopaedic care they need. P&E asks applying hospitals for a percentage of the type of patients they receive, categorized as either public patients, private patients, or charity patients.
Public patients are primarily who we see treated, as they can afford the most basic care, but usually can’t afford the local implants available. A private patient is usually someone who can afford the purchase of the implant or is able to afford private insurance to cover the cost of the implant and the surgery. A charity patient is considered as an individual who can’t afford the regular cost of surgery and is allowed to pay for their treatment at a much lower cost or given treatment free of charge.
Regardless of what kind of hospital applies, what the Program Committee looks for is a high percentage of public patients, a high percentage of charity patients, and a low percentage of private patients. The reason we look for a lower percentage of private patients is to mitigate the risk of the hospital charging private patients for the SIGN Implant and taking it away from the public patients and the charity patients who can’t afford to purchase an implant for their surgery.