A Visionary for Change: Ophthalmology and Accessibility with Aravind Srinivasan MS, MBA | Christoph Zindel

10/28/20 • 30 min

Over half of the world's population lacks access to basic healthcare. Beginning to tackle this problem requires more than structural change in the way we provide care. A true sense of purpose to create and direct those changes is vital for the structural DNA of a healthcare system to be rewired.

Blindness was once a major problem for people all across India. The issue was accessibility to care in the early stages of ophthalmological complications. In 1976, Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy opened the first Aravind Eye Hospital. The goal was to streamline care and make it more affordable while keeping the quality of care at a premium. Since its founding, the Aravind Eye Care System has expanded, serving more than 55 million patients across India. That legacy continues under the leadership of today’s guest.

In this episode, Managing Board Member Christoph Zindel interviews Dr. Aravind Srinivasan, Chief Medical Officer at Aravind Eye Hospital Chennai. He is a cataract surgeon and expert in ophthalmology at Aravind Eye Care System. His focus is on management, innovation, and mentoring, specializing in evaluating and interpreting the performance of each division of AECS.

Dr. Aravind Srinivasan shares the organizational mission, being that if treatment exists, then there’s no reason for people to suffer blindness needlessly. Through streamlining and standardizing their process of care, Aravind Eye Care System has helped countless people gain access to treatment. Today we’ll hear about the personal motivation that led to building the system, how it’s applied across India, and what it takes in terms of experience and personal drive in order to manage such a revolutionary system of healthcare.

Some Questions I Ask:

Can you explain your system of healthcare? (3:36)
How are you able to make care so affordable? (9:20)
How have you increased accessibility to care in India? (13:21)
Is telehealth contributing to accessibility during the Covid-19 pandemic? (17:55)
What can other healthcare organizations learn from your model? (20:00)
How do diversity and inclusion play a role in the building of your teams? (24:20)

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How the problem of accessibility was addressed (4:35)
Why a sense of purpose often gets lost in the business of healthcare (7:50)
How poverty created a cultural barrier to asking for care (13:50)
A simple example of streamlining that helped shape AECS (20:22)

Connect with Aravind Srinivasan MS, MBA:

Connect with our Managing Board Member, Christoph Zindel:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some Questions I Ask:

Can you explain your system of healthcare? (3:36)
How are you able to make care so affordable? (9:20)
How have you increased accessibility to care in India? (13:21)
Is telehealth contributing to accessibility during the Covid-19 pandemic? (17:55)
What can other healthcare organizations learn from your model? (20:00)
How do diversity and inclusion play a role in the building of your teams? (24:20)

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How the problem of accessibility was addressed (4:35)
Why a sense of purpose often gets lost in the business of healthcare (7:50)
How poverty created a cultural barrier to asking for care (13:50)
A simple example of streamlining that helped shape AECS (20:22)

Connect with Aravind Srinivasan MS, MBA:

Connect with our Managing Board Member, Christoph Zindel:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Pandemics, Globalization, and How To Improve Healthcare through Innovation and Digitalization with Noel Yeo, MD | Christoph Zindel

In an increasingly globalized world, viral spread has been difficult to avoid. Large numbers of people are moving constantly from place to place for business and leisure, and as economic prosperity grows, movement follows suit. While we can’t prevent pandemics from happening, we can learn how to manage them better. With experience comes innovation.

Today, Managing Board Member Christoph Zindel interviews Dr. Noel Yeo, the Senior Vice President of one of Asia’s largest integrated private healthcare groups, Parkway Hospitals in Singapore at Parkway Pantai. Dr. Yeo has an Executive Master of Business Administration, a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Law and Ethics, and an Executive Diploma in Directorship. He has been leading the group as their hospital facilities have battled the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak.

In this episode, Dr. Yeo tells us what it’s been like working through the COVID-19 pandemic at his hospital in Singapore. Having dealt with the SARS-CoV-1 outbreak back in 2003, Dr. Yeo provides valuable insights from that experience. We’ll talk about what he’s learned, how hospitals can prepare for future outbreaks, and the innovations that have resulted from these experiences. Dr. Yeo also talks about the importance of digitalization, and why a more patient-centric model of healthcare that leans towards prevention is the way of the future.

Some Questions Asked:

Having experienced another outbreak in 2003, was Singapore better prepared than other countries? (1:53)
Are applications being used in Singapore to help with contact tracing? (7:27)
How has the backlog of elective procedures been dealt with in Singapore? (16:50)
How do you prepare for the next pandemic? (20:13)
Do you expect the beds and resources used to remain beyond this pandemic waiting for the next one? (25:22)
How are standard operating procedures dealt with, in such a large network? (29:53)

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

The 3 point strategy used to confront SARS-CoV-2 (4:26)
How SARS-CoV-2 spread among the population in Singapore (15:07)
Plans for mass testing when the next wave hits (21:16)
Predictions about future healthcare challenges in Asia and beyond (33:26)
How we can use the abundance of data in healthcare to our advantage (37:22)
One helpful innovation that is being used at Parkway Pantai (39:00)

Connect with Dr. Noel Yeo:

Connect with our Managing Board Member, Christoph Zindel:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

How Finland is Leading the Digital Healthcare Revolution with Päivi Sillanaukee, MD, PhD, eMBA | Christoph Zindel

Every country is unique in its healthcare operations. Much of Europe has a long history of socialized medicine based on The Bismark Model, a German system dating back to 1883 which guarantees healthcare to its citizens. Programs in Europe and Asia are primarily adaptations of this model.

By the 1960s, however, Finland saw the need to rethink its healthcare system and create something that served its population better. A young group of doctors who were also in charge of policymaking took the lead in creating a new model. In 1972, the current Finnish healthcare system was signed into law, making public health centers the central concept.

In this episode, Managing Board Member Christoph Zindel interviews Dr. Päivi Sillanaukee, Director-General at the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Dr. Päivi Sillanaukee is the thematic Ambassador for Health and Wellbeing at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland as part of a pilot program of cross-sectoral cooperation on global issues. She also represents Finland on the World Health Organization’s Executive Board.

We’ll learn how the healthcare model in Finland operates, the infrastructure it requires, and how this model actually encouraged digital innovation from its inception. We’ll also discover the lessons that can be extracted from this model that has been serving the Finnish population for nearly half a century.

Some Questions Asked: