Aravind Eye Hospitals

We had a strategic management workshop here on campus. It was conducted by our distinguished alumni... The attendance was on the lower side. We - first years - had to contend with CV submissions, Company applications, Approaching Mid-terms and the incessant rainfall.
I was very much present for the inauguration and the first part of the session till 11:40 (which was about what follows in this post) but I confess leaving in the break , to attend to certain of my pending errands (like this blog.) I remain convinced of having lost out on a lot of value

The case dealt with the "aravind eye hospital" chain and how they are able to provide world class eye care at practically no cost. It was a real eye opener for me. Till then I had believed that quality always had to be bought. The concept of how high quality eye care can be provided, free of cost in remote Indian villages , to those who need it the most is something totally new to me.

This , story is something we need to be proud of. Harvard uses this as a case-study. And when I attended the presentation, I was stunned. (you'll soon see why.)
The company is a savvy marketer of services and its innovation and service-mindedness makes it stand out among clutter.

The Original Case study is available at http://www.savefile.com/files/2411751
This is a must read (though I will be summarizing it below)

The Eye hospital chain has 1400 beds and is the largest of its kind in the world. What makes it all the more remarkable is that it is in a largely rural setting in India. Facing a dream of eradicating needless blindness in India, the company faces 20 million patients and even at the stupendous rate of 1000000 surgeries a year (!!!), it cant keep pace with the burgeoning population.
The primary cause of blindness in India is cataract. I wont go into details here. Suffice it to say, it is very common and totally curable with a surgery,.
The chain was started by Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy in 1918.and expanded from 30 to 1400 beds.It has seven hospitals.

The hospital performs 70% of its surgeries free. The remaining 30% of the patients are charged and this money is used as a cross subsidy.

The company operates a main hospital (with top notch facilities which come at a price.) It also operates a more toned down, free and correspondingly chaotic "free Hospital". In addition there are a series of free eye camps (which are fairly well attended)
Free camps are held in villages and semi-rural towns. They are sponsored by other organizations with the hospital only in a supporting role. Such camps are sponsored by religious charities , Movie star Fan clubs or Lions' Club etc.

Lenses are manufactured captively at an unbelievable $3 per lens , while ensuring quality comparable with imported lenses.

Some other gems not available in the case -

* The company uses local media -newspapers, word of mouth, even folk music to spread awareness and information about eye health and its services in the community.
* The company uses satellite technology and GIS to map and locate target communities for eye camps (Those of who who think the IT revolution is only in cities, eat crow !)
* Several doctors are educated abroad (in the US for example)
* The costs are unbelievable . A surgery costs $50 , Glasses $5 and Intra ocular lenses come at $3

These kinds of organizations are real torchbearers in the path towards marketing to the rural customer. Their approach to their service holds lessons for all of us. They have managed to cut out the common misconceptions about rural Indians and their priorities and managed to bridge the HUGE gap that exists between the needs of the poor and Quality service to cover those needs.