Aravind eye care Hospital

One of the main vision of the founder Dr. Venkataswamy is to mass market Cataract
Surgery to clear the huge logs of blind people. Bringing eyesight to the poor people
Asia, Africa and all around the world is what he aims to. Provision of high-quality
services at affordable rates, to both rich and poor and eradicate blindness out of the
world.
The major issues were the blindness problem, India came second highest to this
issue after China and the hospital does 1 million surgeries each year and he says to
improve this because they have to reach to 20 million blind people in the country.
Challenges faced in India
Lack of incentives to ensure treatment for the poor
Lack of education
A lesser fraction of ophthalmologist with a comparison to the blind people.

The hospital was started as a 20-bed eye care hospital in 1976 with three surgeons
with the sole aim of offering high-quality care at an affordable cost. By the end of
the 1970s, the expanded to seventy-bed free hospital.
How they provided the Services -
The services provided were Speciality clinics for Vitreous diseases, squint, glaucoma,
diabetes, and pediatric ophthalmology. The main hospital had a lot of modern
facilities which were mainly imported.

Growth
Then by 1985, the hospital got further extended as a 350 bed five-story hospital as a
new unit was opened. They employed and conducted eye camps to attract people to
the hospitals.
Doctors and nurses visited the neighboring rural areas and conducted these camps,
these camps were sponsored mostly by either a businessman or an NGO. And after
the necessary screening, they transported the patients to the free hospital, the other
people who attended the camp were provided incentives for the return journey.
Those selected patients were given the necessary treatment and were returned after
three days. The hospital team did check these discharged patients after three
months. Several of his family members joined his hospital. The hospital further grew
to a 600-bed hospital. Continuous training was imparted to the doctors from
different institutions around the world. The hospital conducted blindness prevention
projects in various places in Asia and Africa.
By 1992, the hospital had screened close to 3.5 million patients, and out of which
seventy percent was for free of cost. The hospital in its initial years could generate
revenue for its operations and over ninety percent of its annual budget was derived
from its operations and only the rest ten percent was from other sources around the
world.

Approach they used

They carried out to provide high-quality services at nominal costs.
Achieving increased productivity by employing innovation
Became economically self-sustained.

Mornings at the hospital -

The rush was very huge.
People get divided into two groups for evaluation.
Firstly the assistants record vision and then is moved to the next room for a
preliminary examination by the doctor.
There were a lot of doctors in duty.
Then finally a final examination is conducted by a senior medical officer.
The patients who are diagnosed to need corrective glasses would be taken a
measurement and given the same.
Those who require cataract surgeries advanced to be inpatient in three days. They
take up to 15 minutes for every ECCE cataract surgery. In cataract surgeries, it is
basically the same procedure performed with minute variations.

Some of the challenges faced -

The outpatient facilities at the main hospital were more organized than the free,
And the patients in the free hospital weren't given beds, they were taken to rooms
were mats were spread and they accommodated 20-30 passengers. There is a
temporary shelter in front of the free hospital. Need of consistent set of procedures.
Need for organized camps.

Service gaps observed -

Expected service -
The doctors were expected to work for long hours with high patience and dedication
Gap - There is an absence of highly trained people. And some doctors think it is
better to work for only a few hours a day.
Perceived service - There would be a lot of confusion due to disorganization in free
hospitals.
Service delivery- The operation theatre tend to become very crowded.
Gap - A lack of administrative personnel to direct the flow
Translation of efficiency Operating a large number of patients.

Future -
The hospital is planning to retain its doctors.
Get the doctors to specialize in one main area.
Reach to maximum countries.
Build more links with other eye hospitals over the world.