Aravind’s hospital network now has 164 patient counselors. Its systems ensure that a counselor meets with each patient advised to have surgery; she explains the entire process, along with all the various options available, and fields any questions the patient might have. Within two years of introducing counselors, direct admissions per week increased fourfold. In the same period, Aravind’s eye camp volume also increased by 20 percent. But by then, the systems in place were robust enough to handle the increase without a hitch.
This approach to bottlenecks and capacity barriers at Aravind leaves no room for complacency. Dr. Usha Kim, one of the organization’s senior doctors, recalls walking into Dr. V’s office with two other colleagues in 1999 after first hearing of his plans to build a fifth hospital in Pondicherry. “We said to him, ‘Look, this is a bad idea. We don’t even have enough doctors in Madurai right now. We have four hospitals already; we’re not interested in starting another one,’” says Usha. Dr. V listened to them quietly and nodded his head. “If you feel that way, we won’t do it,” he said. “But then after that, he called us each in to meet him individually,” says Usha, laughing at the memory. “He called me the next day and said, ‘You know, when you think you’ve grown enough, that’s when you start to decline. It means you’re walking downhill instead of climbing.’” Aravind–Pondicherry was inaugurated in 2003, and Dr. V’s perspective on growth would slowly filter through the organization’s leadership. “I’ve matured to the idea that when you’re in a comfort zone, you start to deteriorate,” Usha says. “You need to have some kind of pressure or you don’t evolve. Dr. V was right—it isn’t about staying where you are and feeling cozy.”
The History of the Aravind Eye Care System
In 1976, Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, a retired surgeon, founded an eye clinic in South India with his siblings and their spouses. Dr. V, as he became known, didn’t have a business plan or money, but he had a mission to eliminate curable blindness. Today, the Aravind Eye Care System is the largest and most productive blindness prevention organization in the world. During the last 35 years, its six eye hospitals have treated more than 32 million patients and performed more than 4 million surgeries, the majority either ultrasubsidized or free. Even more remarkable, Dr. V has insisted on financial self-reliance, resolving not to depend on government aid, private donations, or foreign funding. The organization invests tremendous energy in bringing eye care to villagers too poor to seek out its services. Its policies ensure that all patients get the same high standard of care. The same doctors work across both free and paid services. Defying the assumption that high-quality surgery cannot be performed at high volumes, Aravind’s doctors are among the most productive in the world, averaging 2,000 cataract surgeries a year, against the United States’ average of under 200. The efficiencies that enable this achievement help make Aravind one of the lowest-cost, highest-quality eye care systems in the world. Dr. V passed away in 2006, but Aravind continues to thrive. Based on his vision, the Aravind model demonstrates the power of integrating innovation with empathy, and business principles with service.
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O started in the USA and then doctors focus on profit sharing instead of caring. There wasnt and still isnt a balance .