Patients who can pay are charged $130, while those in extreme poverty received a subsidized rate of $12. However, if the patient cannot receive that, they are given the surgery for free. No one is turned away based upon their income. This is a unique business model. The centers are also mobile and actively go into communities, rather than wait for patients to come to them. Before the existence of Aravind, there was no articulated demand for the surgery. Blindness in some areas was accepted as a fact of life, but now that is no longer the case.
Aravind has also expanded the service-based aspects of its organization to include the manufacture of intraocular lenses. The provision of these lenses by an India-based company enabled the organization to reduce its costs, given the premium prices of imported lenses. Then, it became a source of revenue for Aravind itself.
Q3. How is the case of the Aravind Eye Hospitals a case in social entrepreneurship?
Often, doing good and making money are seen as mutually incompatible goals. However, Aravind Eye Hospitals shows that this is not the case. By finding an unmet need amongst an economically-challenged population, Aravind was able to generate revenue. Dr. V uses many of the principles of assembly-line manufacturing at his hospital, including how the patient is wheeled in and out from the different surgical areas and the fact...
Over 40 surgeries a day can be performed, using the application of sound business principles. Administrative duties and pre- and post-operative prep are handled by staff members, so the doctors can focus on what they do best. No appointments are kept, instead patients start arriving as early as 4am and procedures begin around 5am.
Aravind has taken many steps to make the healthcare environment better overall. Now India has lower-cost intraocular lenses, thanks to Aravind's expanding manufacturing business. It has educated young doctors by offering postgraduate classes in management and ophthalmology. It has also set up an eye bank to increase the supply and distribution of corneas. By expanding its business overall, Aravind has expanded the opportunities for high-quality healthcare within the nation. It has also shown sensitivity to changes in market demand, such as the increased need for diabetes-related eye surgery in India and has shifted its focus upon this aspect of healthcare.
References
Level 5 leadership: Humility and will. Based on Jim Collins article, "Level 5 leadership: The
triumph of humility and fierce resolve," in Best Of HBR, HBR, July-August, 2005: 136-
146. Retrieved:
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/unssc/unpan021788.pdf
