Introduction
Healthcare is a societal cornerstone that guarantees good well-being. The healthcare system promotes, maintains, and restores health. This report will focus on Aravind Eye Care Hospital. Advantages leading to innovation in developing countries will be analyzed followed by evaluation of leaderships that inspirational leadership require to ensure effective innovation. Also, the report will assess why Aravind’s equivalent does not exist in the West. In addition, the report will offer a detailed analysis of differences in trying to have Aravind equivalent in the United Kingdom, UK. Finally, this study will elaborate on the means that companies can use in stimulating learning past developing new products.
Overview of Aravind Eye Care Hospital
The hospital is outstanding compassionate and innovative healthcare facility. Dr. Govin-dappa Venkataswamy founded it in 1976 to eliminate blindness in India. Its set up was inspired by almost 50 million people worldwide who suffer from bilateral blindness and about 5 to 10 million in India. Also, McDonald’s success in delivering quality products worldwide inspired the founder (Parimala and Signtha, 2021). Dr. V saw the potential of developing a hospital that could offer affordable and excellent eye services.
The success of this hospital depended on three principles, the first being having an excellent administration that guaranteed the delivery of efficient services and operations. The other principle depended on process innovation, which could leverage processes to maximise efficiency and substitute human skills where possible (Ravindran et al., 2021). Some tasks like counselling and refraction testing were assigned to paramedical staff to give doctors ample time to perform surgeries and offer medical advice. The service-oriented culture was another principle. Also, it ensured that everyone displayed equality, kindness, and humility when attending to patients, and other staff members, and when recruiting and training other personnel.
The hospital uses innovative approaches in reaching and serving patients more so in rural areas. For instance, hospitals use outreach camps in the countryside to diagnose, scan, and counsel the blind. Besides, Aravind uses telemedicine to facilitate remote diagnosis and assess eye conditions in rural areas through webcams and broadband radio technologies (Parimala and Signtha, 2021). Efficient patient management is another innovative approach used by this hospital. When a patient arrives, the IT system is used to facilitate the process of booking the patient in less than two minutes, and those patients who need surgery undergo the procedure on the very day; this helps maximise throughput and minimise waiting time.
Additionally, the surgical model for this eye care hospital is known for its voluminous surgery operations exceeding an average of 2000 each year, which is more than 10 times the nation’s average. The streamlined process and efficient utilization of the operating theater led to this high throughput. The hospital offers post-operative care, like counselling after surgery (Nanniyur and Ramanujam, 2023). Also, the hospital has an innovative business model to ensure financial sustainability. For instance, the hospital ensures cross-subsidization, where each patient’s payment subsidizes treatment for the other two patients who cannot afford to pay. Besides, the hospital ensured cost-effective solutions by establishing a subsidiary, Aurolab, used in manufacturing intraocular lenses at a reduced price, increasing local and international affordability.
Critical Analysis of Advantages Developing Countries have in Innovation, Particularly in Process and Services
Developing countries benefit from innovation, more so in processes and services due to various reasons. First, developing countries have limited resources and this helps in driving innovation (Haleem et al., 2022). The scarce resources help in creating efficient processes and creative solutions. For instance, the scarce resources in India; a developing country helped this hospital in mastering resourcefulness idea. Dr. Natchair states that Aravind recruit girls having the right attitude from rural areas and trains them for two years. These recruits are trained as paramedic staff hence they undertake roles like counselling and refraction testing. The approach helps streamline the process and optimizing the use of human resources, hence the hospital can efficiently serve many patients (Haleem et al., 2022). Leveraging available resources demonstrates a high level of innovation and creativity.
Second, developing countries have a high level of flexibility due to reduced regulations and rigid structures. High flexibility enables innovators to undertake various experiments freely, enabling them to adapt to changing circumstances with ease. For instance, Aravind in India; a developing country has made various innovations to respond to patients’ needs. The hospital pioneered using telemedicine in rural areas by initiating the use of webcams and radio broadband, which allow doctors to asses and diagnose patient’s eye conditions remotely. Also, Aravind innovated the use of camps to reach patients in rural areas, and currently, it runs about 1,500 camps per year (Akwaowo et al., 2022). Also, a high level of flexibility has enabled this hospital to initiate IT systems in the hospital that facilitate attending to patients, like a patient is booked in less than two minutes on arrival facilitating the system’s operation.
Third, developing countries are customer-centric and this necessitates innovation because they focus on providing solutions for the needs of the local population. Developing countries have limited healthcare access, therefore innovators tend to prioritize solutions that address challenges faced by the locals. For example, Aravind Eye Care Hospital has focused on eliminating blindness among Indians implying they are customer-centric (Haleem et al., 2022). The hospital provides affordable and high-quality eye care services addressing local population needs.
Fourth, developing countries innovate affordable services aimed at ensuring highly scalable and efficient cost-effectiveness. Aravind has managed to use an innovative model in subsidizing medical care for patients who cannot fully fund their treatment. Patients who can pay their medical fees cater to the other two patients who cannot pay. Through cost-subsidizing, vulnerable members are taken care of. The emphasis on affordability helps in enhancing medical accessibility, as sustainability is fostered (Haleem et al., 2022). This makes the model by Aravind Eye Care Hospital a good example of how cost-effectiveness can positively impact healthcare delivery.
Fifth, developing countries have cheap labor. Cheap labor results from a high rate of unemployment. The skilled individuals are hired cheaply and immediately start contributing their innovative ideas that develop the country. The unskilled individuals are trained and their knowledge is utilized in developing the country through innovation. Aravind has leveraged the high unemployment rate in the country by recruiting girls from rural areas who are then trained for two years and offered employment. These girls are then employed as paramedical staff and they help in counselling and undertaking some tasting (Akwaowo et al., 2022). That is how developing countries benefit from innovation.
Critically Evaluate the Kind of Leaderships an Inspirational Leadership Requires for Effective Innovation
Inspirational leadership needs displaying certain qualities of leadership to guarantee effective innovation. compelling vision is one of them, which helps in guiding, inspiring, and aligning employees’ efforts to achieve a particular goal (Sanandaji, 2020). Dr. Venkataswamy had a vision of eliminating blindness among the Indians and this became the driving motive behind Aravind Eye Care Hospital, leading to its success. Dr. V’s analogy of McDonald’s concept resonated well with him, illustrating the power of having a clear vision that transcended boundaries inspiring transformation within the organization. Dr. Venkataswamy articulated an ambitious and bold vision, which galvanized his team, instilling a sense of purpose that spread through the entire operations of Aravind Eye Care Hospital.
Additionally, empowerment is another leadership quality. Leaders must empower junior employees to unleash their full potential through meaningful contributions to the entire organizational goals (Ramesh et al., 2021). Dr. Venkataswamy empowered his employees to deliver their best. He designed a good process that could deliver effective services by delegating responsibilities to each individual. Paramedics were to offer counselling services and undertake some refraction testing while doctors were to remain free to offer medical advice and perform surgery operations. Dr. Venkataswamy empowered employees to collaborate to ensure success and each worker was to take ownership of their work as this helped in driving innovation at each organizational level.
Inspirational leaders must display risk-taking qualities. Risk-taking leaders have good problem-solving skills, are highly adaptable, and are resilient. Dr. Venkataswamy was a risk taker. He saw an opportunity that could help in treating eye vision at a low cost and decided to take that risk. Besides, when the hospital was operational, he decided to take another risk, which involved setting up camps in rural areas to reach many individuals and currently Aravind over 1,500 camps each year (Sanandaji, 2020). The other risk taken by this leadership was the introduction of telemedicine like webcams and broadband radios to enable doctors to assess and diagnose conditions remotely and this risk became effective, hence a good innovation.
Also, inspirational leadership needs to possess a culture of innovation, which helps to foster adaptability, creativity, and continuous improvement. Dr. Venkataswamy embodied this culture of innovation through the effective training of unskilled individuals (Ramesh et al., 2021). Dr. Natchair stated that when selecting girls from rural areas to be trained as paramedics, they were to have the right attitude. This attitude helped to embrace change and foster a mindset of innovative values. The leadership nurtured and encouraged learning and experimentation, which are essential in motivating the culture of innovation.
Effective communication and openness are other leadership qualities that innovative leaders need to possess. Dr. Venkataswamy displayed openness and effective communication. Staff recruitment was an open with free communication. Recruits were to be from rural areas with a good attitude about patient care. Openness and clear communication were fostered by the leadership of the counselling experts who were to display this quality as they attended to patients (Agarwal et al., 2020). Openness and effective communication are also displayed when the hospital emphasises on the culture of effective delivery of services to members.
Furthermore, effective leadership needs to display leadership qualities like service orientation and humility. Dr. Venkataswamy displayed humility and was service-oriented. Employees were encouraged to display similar qualities during their daily operations. These qualities were passed to members starting from their first recruitment date (Agarwal et al., 2020). The hospital’s leadership ensured that all employees placed their patient’s needs above other needs, fostering empathy and compassion. A service-oriented mindset helps to foster satisfaction among patients fostering a sense of fulfillment and pride, hence innovated better ways to attend to patients.
Analyse Why has Equivalent of Aravind is not yet Arisen in the West
The West has not found Aravind’s equivalent because it prioritises financial gain against delivering equitable services to all people. Despite Aravind prioritizing profits, it has looked for a way to subsidize care such that those individuals who can pay for their medication will cater for the medication of the other two people who cannot afford payment (Sakthivel and Ganesan, 2022). Besides, Aravind emphasises equality, humility, and service delivery. Thus, Aravind is both profit and equitable service-oriented. The West has failed to provide equitable healthcare as they are profit-oriented institutions.
Aravind developed a highly cost-effective model aimed to deliver eye care services at high quality and this is evidenced through affordable intraocular lenses that the subsidiary Aurolab produces. However, western healthcare is yet to implement such cost-effective services because its structure values high cost, which poses significant challenges when it comes to implementing such a cost-effective approach like Aravind (Dash, 2020). Besides, strict regulatory requirements, such as high labor expenses and overhead costs hinder the West from having Aravinds’ equivalent.
Cultural differences pose another challenge and that is why the West has not achieved Aravind’s equivalent. The Western cultural healthcare system is hierarchical, and everything is organized around an individual’s ranking depending on their status or authority, including their profession, ethnicity, gender, and expertise. This Western culture tends to create barriers when providing services, as those who are ranked at the top receive efficient services first (Keel et al., 2020). On the other hand, Aravind considers all people equal, and hence receive equal services. Thus, cultural differences and institutional norms hinders the West from achieving Aravind’s equivalent.
Additionally, the West is yet to have an equivalent of Aravind due to regulatory hurdles. For instance, before West healthcare can implement any idea or innovation, they have to meet stringent healthcare requirements set by regulatory bodies, or else their idea is not implemented (Dash, 2020). Besides, approval of any healthcare idea or innovation undergoes a bureaucratic process that causes delays and still may be rejected. The same does not happen with Aravind because there are no regulatory requirements which is why Aravind just started using webcams and broadband radios to reach patients in remote areas. These regulations are other reasons why the Aravind equivalent is not in the West.
Strategic and technological innovation is another reason the West has not achieved the Aravind equivalent. For instance, for Aravind, it is easier to recruit girls from rural areas and the only requirement is for them to have the right attitude for serving patients. However, the West cannot recruit girls to be trained as paramedics based on attitude as the West will always consider academic qualifications (Sakthivel and Ganesan, 2022). This is why the West does not have Aravind’s equivalent.
Detail Analysis of How Different to Find Equivalent of Aravind in the United Kingdom; UK.
The National Health Service, NHS in the UK operates under a universal healthcare system that is publicly funded and this is different from the Indian healthcare system, which is purely private, hence pose difference in finding Aravind’s equivalent (Marchildon et al., 2021). This implies that an equivalent of Aravind in the UK would require navigating NHS complexities like strict regulatory oversight, centralized government, and constraints related to the budget. Besides, the provision of universal healthcare services by the NHS encounters challenges like limited resources and long waiting (Marchildon et al., 2021). Therefore, an equivalent of Aravind in the UK will require addressing these challenges by paying attention to efficient management of patients that will streamline processes and innovative solutions, improving accessibility and reducing waiting time.
Furthermore, healthcare cost is another factor. In the UK, healthcare cost is determined by the government via taxation, which enables patients to benefit from subsidized and free care. This is quite different from the Indian healthcare cost. For instance, as per the Aravind model, patients have to pay for their medical services from their pockets though at a lower cost unlike in the UK. The cost for intraocular lenses in the UK is about $2,000 and above, while Aravind offers the same at about $5- $10 (Marchildon et al., 2021). Also, adapting to the cost-effective model of Aravind in the UK will require a similar organization to demonstrate the money’s value within NHS funding constraints. Doing this may require utilizing optimum resources, negotiating the low cost of procuring medical supplies, and implementing efficient pathways for patients that will reduce operational expenses.
Cultural difference is another issue as the norms and values that surround the UK healthcare differs from those of India. Organizational cultures between the two countries differ despite both of them prioritizing hierarchical structures, quality outcomes, and patient care. Therefore, having Aravind’s equivalent in the UK requires fostering innovative, compassionate, and collaborative culture, while paying attention to existing values and cultural norms in the NHS workforce (Abela, 2023). It may entail investment in the development and training of staff members, interdisciplinary teamwork promotion, and empowerment of frontline workers to ensure that improvement is continuous.
The regulatory environment poses another difference. The healthcare regulatory framework in the UK is well-established and various bodies like MHRA and CQC tend to oversee these healthcare regulations (Abela, 2023). Thus, having an equivalent of Aravind in the UK will require total compliance with these regulatory requirements, which might be complex and stringent. In addition, an effective adaptation of Aravind’s innovative practices to meet the regulatory standards in the UK will need careful planning, effective assessment of risks, and collaboration with regulatory authorities. This may entail undertaking clinical trials for new treatments and technologies so that they comply with regulations protecting data and adhere to best practices that guarantee quality assurance and patient safety (Abela, 2023).
What Companies Need in Stimulating Learning that is Not Specific to New Product Development Projects Only
Implementing various measures may help companies in stimulating learning beyond developing a specific product. First, the company can foster cross-functional collaboration, where team members are encouraged to participate in knowledge sharing. As a result, employees gain insights from different perspectives encouraging innovative thinking (Patrício et al., 2021). For instance, quality improvement specialists may undertake an analysis of data on the outcomes of surgical improvement through the identification of process improvement opportunities and implement an evidence-based intervention that will improve healthcare delivery and share this knowledge with other members.
Providing continuous learning opportunities is another way to stimulate learning beyond the development of a new product. Continuous improvement will keep employees engaged enhancing their knowledge and skills. It may include the provision of access to mentorship opportunities, seminars, workshops, and training programs (Nayyar et al., 2021). Investment in the development of employees at all levels will help in organizational growth creating a lifelong learning culture and professional development.
Companies can also encourage the experimentation culture, which entails allowing employees to explore new approaches and ideas without fearing failure. Such organizations need to celebrate failures and success as an experience to learn (Patrício et al., 2021). When companies encourage taking risks and offering support to undertake experiments, an innovative culture is fostered, hence employees feel empowered to challenge the status quo.
Providing opportunities for external engagement is another way that companies can stimulate learning beyond the development of a new product. External engagement allows employees to understand new practices, trends, and ideas in the industry, hence being able to maneuver through the healthcare system to offer appropriate services (Nayyar et al., 2021). When employees participate in healthcare industrial events, networking, and conferences, they can learn from external experts and share ideas with peers, which then inspire innovation driving continuous improvement.
Moreover, recognizing and celebrating minor instances of sharing knowledge and learning with the company helps to reinforce continuous improvement and innovative values. Employees’ recognition and acknowledgment may be through effort recognition, informal and formal celebrations, and offering awards, as it motivates other employees and shares knowledge to continuously pursue excellence (Nayyar et al., 2021). Besides, when success is celebrated, a positive work environment is created, as employees feel valued and appreciated. This helps to stimulate learning beyond developing a new product.
Conclusion
Aravind Eye Care Hospital is outstanding as it ensures a high level of innovation and effective and efficient service delivery. The case study significantly illustrated the benefits leading to innovation in developing countries. Also, the type of leadership that inspirational leaders require is well-established, which may include having a compelling vision. Besides, some factors prevent establishment of Aravind equivalent in the West, and finding its equivalent in the UK requires changing various issues, which may include abiding by healthcare regulations. Also, there is a lot that companies can implement to stimulate learning and this may include fostering cross-functional collaboration, continuous learning, and encouraging experimental culture.
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