Founded in 1976 by Dr. G. Venkataswamy to eliminate preventable blindness, the Aravind Eye Care System today is the largest and most productive eye care facility in the world. Aravind recently received the Global Health Award from the Gates Foundation. As Thulasiraj Ravilla explains in this interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, this award was based not so much on Aravind's activities as on its innovative methods.

Aravind's focus is on reaching people who need eye care but don't seek it, because they are too remote or can't afford it. The approach was to develop a two-tiered system: one part for paying patients, and one for non-paying patients. The ambience is different, but the quality of care is the same in both parts of the system.

The secret to Aravind's sustainability was to charge competitive local market prices in the paying part of the system and to take advantage of innovative efficiency techniques so that the paying part could fund the costs of the non-paying part with enough left over to fuel Aravind's growth. Ravilla describes Aravind's techniques for managing resources to minimize downtimes. He explains how physician time is maximized by focusing on judgement-oriented activities, leaving other tasks to specially trained ophthalmic technicians.

Ravilla also touches on other techniques that have contributed to Aravind's global reputation, including software assisted formal outcome monitoring, continuous improvement programs, standardization without stifling innovation, and collaboration and exchange programs. He recounts how Aravind teamed up with UC Berkeley to develop broadband connections that could be used to establish eye care centers in remote loactions. Finally, he discusses the software Aravind has developed for retinal imaging of patients with diabetic retinopathy.