CHAPTER 8 How can partners communicate value?

We have discussed the importance of communication in building a successful PPP. It is crucial that partners be able to communicate clearly with one another if success is to be achieved.

But communication also plays a vital role in conveying the successes of a PPP to a wider public. Too often, partners engage in successful PPPs only to fail to "claim" the success and assert the value of the partnership. Many-both in the general public and within dedicated healthcare advocacy groups-remain highly suspicious of public-private partnerships as a value-creating device. If a partnership is to be successful, then, partners must be able to effectively communicate success and progress. Ultimately, perception can be every bit as important as reality. The skill of communication is relevant in engaging effectively, of course, but it is also instrumental in conveying the value created by a PPP to a wider audience.

Even though international support for healthcare PPPs is building within WHO and member states, staunch opposition to public-private partnerships still exists. Groups and individuals highly suspicious of the profit motive are likely to be critical of new PPPs. Negotiators of successful PPPs must be prepared not only to succeed, but to communicate those successes effectively to a wider public and to potentially hostile stakeholders.

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CASE STUDY

Lesotho National Referral Hospital

As we've discussed, the Lesotho National Referral Hospital project used an elaborate system of performance-based metrics to assure that public and private partners were working towards the same ends. With strong value alignment guiding incentives, the project was a robust success, providing high-quality healthcare to citizens while keeping costs under control.

However, this apparent success did not make the National Referral Hospital PPP immune to criticism. A 2014 briefing note from Oxfam referred to the PPP as a "dangerous diversion," citing flawed estimates about demand and additional payments remitted to the private sector as evidence that the PPP would not be revenue-neutral, even as it acknowledged the significant improvements in healthcare outcomes.67 Oxfam also put out a video denigrating the project.

By attacking a project funded by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation during the World Bank's Spring Meeting, the Oxfam report struck a stinging blow to the reputation of the PPP and other partnerships in Lesotho. The World Bank issued a point-by-point refutation, but the reputational damage was already done. Had the partners been able to better communicate success-and proactively acknowledge shortcomings-Oxfam's narrative might have been one of refining the PPP model, rather than disposing of it altogether.

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How, then, can PPP stakeholders avoid these kinds of outcomes? By effectively communicating not just the functionality of a PPP, but also the value it adds to the public balance sheet.

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67Marriott, Anna. (2014, April 7). A Dangerous Diversion. Retrieved from https://www.oxfam.org/