About Us

NetworkOne Maternity is an integrated maternity team (IMT). Our team-based approach to maternity care and birthing is a departure from the dominant sole practitioner or monodisciplinary group practice models that are the norm in South Africa. We have purposefully designed our functional and clinical processes to enable the operation of a virtual multidisciplinary birthing centre (MUBC) with consulting rooms in the community a dedicated space inside a hospital exclusively run by IMT comprising midwives, obstetric medical officers, doulas and obstetricians and other healthcare and allied professionals. Network One Maternity is managed and operated by Network One Health (Pty) Ltd. The IMT design ensures that we maximise the contributions of each provider, and the team. Network One Health (Pty) Ltd provides the tools, systems and processes that secure high reliability and continuous, data-based quality improvement. The first MUBC has its offices in Woodmead and delivery suites at Busamed Modderfontein, north of Johannesburg.

How we make private healthcare more affordable

Private healthcare is becoming increasingly expensive for the average South African. A major contributing factor to high prices is the fragmented nature of the status quo; doctors work in isolation, underinvest in quality resulting in gaps in care that often lead to complications and high costs. The fee-for-service remuneration model used in South Africa incentivizes providers to prioritise the number of services at the expense of outcomes, both clinical and cost. This makes health care very expensive. By combining the power of technology, common sense and highly motivated clients, we are able to create efficient care pathways based on team work. Our pricing approach is based on using the most affordable resources at all points in the journey. This means for example that patients with no complications will only see a specialist at some visits, not all, the rest being conducted by a midwife with support from the specialist. We also use telephonic and video consultations and a patient app for easy communication and to reduce the hassle for you. We charge global fees, which means the fee we quote you includes the costs for your visits, blood tests, ultrasound and for vaginal delivery. We negotiate for discounts with all providers on your behalf.

A team of healthcare practitioners

Healthcare is a team effort, and this is especially true of maternity care. We believe that only a team of diverse healthcare professionals actively working together with standardised patient-centred care tools and plans and tools can deliver the best care at the most affordable price.

The Integrated Maternity Team (IMT) model

The basic structure is the Integrated Maternity Team. The IMT is made up of providers from primary, secondary and tertiary levels enjoined through formal service level agreements. The IMT is supported by the health management company, Network One Health (Pty) Ltd which provides support and access to medical equipment, digital and IT solutions required for efficient teamwork unconstrained by existing professional and organisational boundaries. Births are conducted at multidisciplinary birth centres (MUBC), which are either free-standing or integrated into hospitals. Care is coordinated by midwives.

The IMT model is based on the following principles:

• The team is made up of a diverse range of health professionals that closely work together. There are well-defined processes and a risk management framework encoded in the Network One Health Clinical Governance Framework.
• The use of holistic and standardised care plans that are individualised for each patient’s unique needs.
• The use of a patient management IT system enables the entire team to know what tasks need to be done, by who and by when. The providers conduct comprehensive risk assessments at each visit to ensure that health risks are picked up and dealt with early on.
• Alternative pricing models that work for the healthcare team and give patients certainty of costs upfront.

Independently owned

Network One Maternity is an independent company owned by the clinicians that work in it.