Visualiza HistoryIdeas for Change

Haiti Eye Care Symposium

• Small private practice in a shopping mall in Guatemala city (four employes)

• After the first clinic we move to other building where we had 16 employees

2 Hospitals

• Guatemala

• Petén

• Visualiza Eye Clinic services Guatemala City and its surrounding areas, a population of over 2 million people, and the Deparment of Peten with 40,000 people

• The clinic site was chosen for its easy accessibility to our public and private patients.

• Visualiza offers full service eye care          anterior segment & glaucoma          oculoplastics          retina          low vision          pediatrics

• Visualiza has two sections: one for the private and one for the poor.

• The operating theater is located on the same premises

• Visualiza has a full optical shop, offering same day service on most prescriptions

• Visualiza offers same day surgery

• In Guatemala we have a saying: We eat the soup while it is hot

Guatemala

Petén

Entrada Servicio Social

Sala de espera y optica Servicio Social

Sala de espera Servicio Privado

Sala de espera Servicio Privado

Sala de espera Servicio Privado

Clínica Social

Clínica Social

Consejeras

Clinica Privada

Clínica Privada

Sala de Operaciones Social

Sala de Operaciones Social

Sala de Operaciones Privada

Optica Privada

Clinica en Petén

Clínica en Petén

Entrada y Sala de espera

Sala de Operaciones

The transition

• During a CBM workshop I meet David Green who encourage us to invite the IEF to help us

• Raheem Rahmathullah from the IEF gave us his technical assistance to change our small clinic into a social enterprise.

• The main barrier: ourselves….

Critical components…

• Bussiness plan and projections• Location with its own Operating

Room (accesible to the poor and attractive to the private patients)

• Introduction of outreach and counsellor

• Differentiation of the services (private and social sections)

• Accesible to all patients

• The price structure. Simple and attractive that the patients paying capacity is self selective• Standardized protocols for administration, OPD, OR, optical shop, etc…• Quality control

Surgical resultsOptical shopAdministrative procedures

• From 2002 to 2011, outpatient exams increased 621% from 6,312 to 39,251; all surgeries increased 761% from 464 to 5,680; pediatric surgeries increased 250% and cataract surgeries increased 781% from 255 in 2002 to almost 2000 in 2011. Guatemala has 160 ophthalmologists and a reported cataract surgical volume of 11,000 annually. Therefore, Visualiza's impact is now 20% of all cataract surgery in the country.

Revenue Source

Patient Distribution

Expenditure by category

EXPENDITURES

41

12

31

6

1

10

-

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Personnel/StaffCosts

Office Supplies MedicalConsumables

Equipment Other Overhead

Po

rcen

tag

e

EXPENDITURES

Lessons from our six years of experience

• Happy Patients ***this has proven to be the most effective tool for advertisement***

Lessons from our experience

• Standardization of administration, OPD, optical, etc

• The differentiation of the services• Self Selection• Communication among the staff• Mini mission – difficulties and

achievements• Price structure, it is so simple and

attractive that the patients paying capacity is self selective

Doctor??? Staff???

• Optical shop – important tool to create revenue

• We started as a private clinic

• The support from IEF has helped us tremendously

• “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop” Confucius

•International Eye Foundation•SEVA Foundation•LICF•CBM

Alianzas

Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF)Juan Francisco Yee, Technical ConsultantSightFirst

Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF)Juan Francisco Yee, Technical ConsultantSightFirst

Port-au-Prince, Haiti May 2012

What is SightFirst?

SightFirst

Mission: To strengthen eye care systems in underserved communities, enabling them to fight blindness and vision loss and assist those who are blind or visually impaired.

Strategy: Work in partnership with local health authorities, eye care professionals and other non-governmental organizations to…

Values

• Support the development of comprehensive eye care systems

• Prioritize aid to underserved populations

• Deliver equitable, high-quality eye care and rehabilitation services

• Create sustainable eye care systems

• Data-Driven: regular monitoring and evaluation

SightFirst Funding Priorities

• Cataract

• Childhood Blindness

• Diabetic Retinopathy

• Education and Rehabilitation for those who are blind or visually impaired

• Eye Health Education

• Low Vision

• Public Health Research

• Onchocerciasis

• Trachoma

• Uncorrected Refractive Error

Historic Milestones

SightFirst in Latin America & the Caribbean

Since 1990…

• 364 grants awarded

• 165,896 cataract surgeries supported

• 2,130 patients treated for diabetic retinopathy

• Retinopathy of prematurity projects in Cuba and El Salvador • 4 eye clinics renovated and 11 equipment upgrade projects

LCIF in Haiti

Moving forward: SightFirst in Haiti

• Long-term commitment to supporting the development of sustainable eye care systems in Haiti

• Principal geographic area of interest is Port-au-Prince

• Particular interest in URE and/or Low Vision

• Should follow SightFirst application process

•Lions involvement is an absolute must

• Contact Angela Supernaw, Regional Specialist Sight Programs – Latin America & Caribbean angela.supernaw@lionsclubs.org

We Care. We Serve. We Accomplish.

The most pathetic person in the world is one who has sight but no vision…

Helen Keller