Walking the Illuminated Path 04 Aug 2021
The path from our origins often meander through ways not envisaged. They take us to extremes of sentiments and bring us back to normal often abruptly. When we have the hindsight to look at these ways travelled and the foresight. to judge futurecourses, then probably we are closest to finding the right path to move on Same is with institutions. Created based on an idea, a core value or essential need, these ideas and ideals may change over time. Hence the nature of institutions may also change with time. The strong ones maintain a close similarity to the founding principles. Others change, some for the better and some for the worse. The challenges to sustenance and growth change frequently but permanence is often linked to an honesty to remain true to the ideals built on and the strength to face these challenges.
The new era and future decades pose a unique challenge. Chaithanya was built on principles of providing essential services to a population which was unaware and had no access to these services. The erstwhile growth of the institution was all about providing these services in a humane and compassionate way. This moulded the original founding principles of the institution i.e.. Ethical and Responsible treatment. The members of the institution gave great importance to patient interaction and engagement. This meant taking the time to make sure they know the patient and manage the patient's expectations. The staff members and doctors at that era had an old world charm and knew a small chit chat with the patient went a long way in ensuring patient loyalty. Hence the robust growth of the institution was ensured by a word of mouth promotion. This invisible campaign was initiated and propagated by well-wishers whose interest was created by their satisfaction.
The second phase of growth was driven by technology development. Procuring the latest equipment and perfecting the latest techniques was the mantra for this era. To be amongst the first institutes to acquire these modern and innovative technologies was the driving force and this translated to enhanced patient success outcomes and satisfaction. This was responsible for the modern wave of growth and what brought the institute to the limelight. The danger of this growth spurt would be the slight deviation from the core values of personalized contact and care. Though providing the latest medical care, ensuring the patient satisfaction would be mean that proper education and counselling regarding managing their expectation. The challenges for the new era would be incorporating technology with old world charm. This would simply mean that continuing the Chaithanya trend of attaining the latest ophthalmic technologies, imbibing new digital. technologies like smart phone apps, biometric methods, logistic applications, artificial intelligence, machine learning and the like. But the true success would be incorporating these with a human smile, a kind touch and a genuine concern for the patient. So this is the future I see for Chaithanya. Digital but with a distinct human face.
Advanced but traditional when it comes to care. Our new goals would be to prepare ourselves to flourish in this new age using the tools available to us and the mentality to adapt. In short, to have a vision to make Chaithanya future proof. A vision to walk the path full of light and glory proudly and confidently.
Dr. Unnikrishnan Nair,Medical Director & CEO ,Chaithanya Eye Hospital Research Institute
