OPHTHALL, India’s most happening optical event, was held from August 18 to 19, 2018 at the Chennai Trade Center in Chennai, India. The event was designed as India’s first practice development conference for ophthalmologists, eye hospital managers, optometrists, technicians, nurses and anyone working in and for eye hospitals.
Following opening remarks by Dr. T. Senthil, the program was inaugurated by chief guest, Padmasri Dr. G. Bakthavathsalam Naidu, chairman of K.G. Hospitals, Coimbatore and the founder of K. G. Eye Hospital, an exclusive multi-speciality eye hospital where more than 90,000 low-income patients have undergone free IOL cataract surgeries.
OPHTHALL 2018 offered a unique insight into practice development and focused on the business aspect of ophthalmology. When an ophthalmologist steps into practice for the first time, they also become an entrepreneur, and have to factor in different variables and play multiple roles, which they may not be prepared for.
The conference sessions were focused on four major categories:
- Start-ups – Eye clinics and hospitals that have just started
- Sustenance – Eye clinics and hospitals which are less than 10 years old and in the growth stage and providing decent revenues
- Scale-ups – Established eye hospitals that want to move up to next level, i.e. opening multiple branches or new facilities
- Succession or Exit – Eye hospitals that are 30+ years in existence and planning on succession or exit
Conference themes were designed to focus on a variety of topics including: hospital/clinic designs, new business models in eye care, impact of insurance on eye hospitals, training and retaining of staff in eye hospitals, telemedicine, artificial intelligence, robotics, improvement of safety and security of hospitals, among others.
One panel discussion on increasing patient footfalls was moderated by Dr. Anand Parthasarathy with four other panellists. The panel discussed several key points including the need for market surveys, which would play a major role in pricing of services. One panellist, Mr. Sandeep, highlighted that a common error made in new businesses is to copy the service pricing and tariffs of other competitors without factoring in three key factors that are essential to pricing of services:
- The socio-demographic and economic profile of the target audience;
- An evaluation of the cost of services provided through a costing exercise;
- And a comprehensive study on the pricing of services provided by competitors, which would consider multiple factors including patient demographics, physical location and services provided.
Panellist Ms. Deepshika Shukla pointed out that although 20 percent of the population requires eye care every year, and that every household has at least one eye patient, new practices are facing difficulties with patient footfall. This is in spite of good infrastructure, skilled surgeons and the availability of sophisticated treatment options. The panel stressed the importance of intelligent billing and designing a business plan with a clearly defined vision and a mission statement to enable quality treatment with maximum patient engagement and satisfaction.
Several panel discussions were held over the two-day conference on various topics ranging from the Future of Ophthalmology to Group Practice and Scaling-up of Services. Other presentations on The Importance of the Internet, Social Media Marketing in this Digital Age and New Business Models in Eye Care drew large enthusiastic crowds.
Editor’s Note: PIE Magazine’s parent company Media MICE Pte Ltd was the official media partner of OPHTHALL 2018.
