INFINITE VISION

Reach

Replicate

Individual Potential + Collective Possibility

Suchitra Shenoy Pavithra K. Mehta

Authors

The 5-Minute, $15 Cure

On Efficiency and Blindness

PART I

Of Burgers and Blindness

Volume

• National Health Service – UK : 10,00,000 (1 million) surgeries annually

• Aravind : 500,000 (5 million)

Cost

• Less than 1% of Britain’s cost

• NHS spends 1.6 Billion Pounds

• Aravind spends 13.8 million pounds

Factors

• External • Regional

economies• Regulations• Cultural

Expectations• Internal• Efficiency• Clinical

Processes• Cost-control

measures

NHS – UK vs Aravind

Of Burgers and Blindness

The tripod mantra

• High Volume• High Quality• Affordable

Cost

McD

• Standardisation

• Product Recognition

• Accessibility• Scale

Hospital-as-Factory

• Streamlined-Workflow-Efficiency

• Task Repetition-Competence

• Paraprofessionals-Individualised Attention, Reduced prices

When Free is not Enough

Barriers

• Avg. Life expectancy after blindness in India : 2.5 – 3 years

• 12 million Indians are blind

• Fear, superstition, cultural indifference

• The Beggar story

Solution

• Ride to base hospital

• Accommodation

• Food• Postoperativ

e Medication• Return

Transport• Follow-up

visit• Acceptance

rate of surgery: 5 to 80%

USP

• Target Group - Designed for Free

• Self sustaining• Outreach Program• Community Model• WOM marketing• Philip Kotler –

Market Devlopment

“a mouth with no hands”

The Case won’t fly

Coke got her , Why can’t we?

• Collective Failure• The bottom line will take care of itself• Post-op repeat visit data analysis• In Service for Sight• Conversion of the need into an active

demand

Do the work and Money will Follow

On Sustainability and Selflessness

PART II

The Sheer Accident

Get Less, Do More

The Power of Creative Constraints

• Innovation is linked to constraints• We cannot turn anyone away• We cannot compromise on quality• We must be self-reliant

• We must be the change we wish to see in the world

• House mortgage + life saving

The Power of Creative Constraints

• Careful attention to pricing structure• Effective resource utilisation – reuse and

recycle• Standardisation – Fixed salary stucture• Cost-conscious Leadership – No Downtime• Paying-to-free ratio – Subspeciality• Money – Neither obsession nor obscenity• Smoothening of demand patterns,

seasonalityYou don’t find people, you build them

• Values-fit over Skill-fit• In-house training – nurses as well as doctors• Women employment

A Vast Surrender

On Innovation and Inner Transformation

PART III

Human kind is work in progress “On inner values hangs the outer plan” – Sri

Aurovindo Sri Aurovindo & Mirra Alfassa (The Mother)’s

Influence Spiritual backbone of Aravind:

Soul --- Volume Stillness --- Quality Surrender --- Affordable cost

Dr. V – a stern disciplinarian How to make this work a field for inner growth

and perfection.

Dr. V’s Practice of Perfect Vision Simple Routine – Structure & Discipline Dr. v’s inquiring mind

Frankfurt airport with Dr. Ramachandra Discussion with housekeepers in hotels

The Bhagavad Gita approach Sri Aurovindo’s teachings in Dr. V’s practice:

Aspiration – a sincere dedication toward realising truth & perfection in all aspects of life

Rejection – a diligent refutation of any hindrances Surrender – unconditional opening to influence and

will of highest nature Spiritual warrior with practical techniques

Manufacturing a Revolution

• Aphakic surgery vs Intraocular Lens (IOL)• Precision Machinery, Sterilized

Environment, Quality Control• Technical know-how – IOL International,

Florida• Aurolab – internationally certified

manufacturing unit• Partial Funding• Self Reliance• From $150 – $300 to $10 to $2• Ophthalmic Pharmaceutical, Sutures,

Ophthalmic equipment

The flip side of a Visionary

• Intuitive decision making• Not trusting others to make independent

decisions• Communication gap

Maximize Service not Profit

• Exports• Non reliance on Aravind sales

Training your competition

On Replication and Self-Awareness

PART IV

How do you retire a Saint

On Change and Integrity

PART V

The Upside-Down Business Model

On out-of-the-book insights

Upside-Down Business Model

• Service for All• Rip the price tag off a sight seeing surgery

• Design for Dignity• Let patients decide whether they pay or not

• High Quality is Free• Regardless of paying capacity

• Broaden the Pie• Prioritize marketing to the person who can’t pay you

• Own the Barriers• Take your service to them if they cannot get you

• Model after McDonalds• Provide standardised easy-access, affordable, scalable

service• Be Self-Reliant

• Carry a minset of sufficiency & avoid external dependencies that compromise mission

Local Model, Global Effect

The International Business perspective

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own action.

– Dalai Lama