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The International Eye Foundation: Helping the world see.
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About the International Eye Foundation

SightReach® Management:

Improving the Stability of Eye Clinics and Hospitals

The International Eye Foundation has developed an effective model that strengthens the quality, productivity, and stability of eye clinics and hospitals. The goal: To create a sustainable model for both public and private eye hospitals that provide quality care for all their patients, regardless of a patient's ability to pay. Combining the best of modern clinical eye care practices with business planning and management systems, we create a hybrid social-entrepreneurial approach to delivery of eye care. [ SRM in Action ]

Twelve Clinics in Eight Countries Improve Management and Infrastructure

IEF assists both public and private eye hospitals in developing countries to reorganize their management processes and improve their infrastructure through sub-grants and technical assistance. With support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the de Beaumont Foundation, and the LaVelle Fund for the Blind, we have invested in twelve partner eye hospitals and two collaborating partners:

6 Key Indicators For the Success of Partner Clinics/Hospitals

  1. Quality of Care
    Our goal is to ensure that patients receive quality care and improved sight. Providing quality care comes down to having well-trained doctors who can perform surgery under standardized protocols with the appropriate equipment and instruments. Another step towards achieving improved sight for cataract patients after surgery is to ensure that all patients receive intra-ocular lenses.
  2. Quality of Service
    Patients must be seen in a timely fashion, treated with respect, and must want to recommend the service to their friends and family. Our partner clinics hire patient counselors to advise patients, alleviate anxiety, and address patient needs, contributing to overall patient satisfaction.
  3. Efficiency
    All parts of the eye care service must be efficient, but these are among the most important elements:
    a) Patient flow-through in the outpatient department
    b) Turn-around time between surgical patients in the operating room
    c) Adequate personnel to perform required duties
  4. Outreach
    Marketing services for private or public hospitals is critical to increasing patient volume, but so are patient counselors, who can plan screening campaigns and alleviate fears of travel, surgery, and cost issues.
  5. Management
    Best practices show that hospital administrators should be responsible for the administration and management of the eye hospitals, freeing doctors to do what they do best— treatment and surgery. So IEF investment in hospitals in developing countries helps to establish managerial and accounting staff that can set standards and policies and monitor for quality and accountability. IEF supports these positions until earned income can sustain their salaries.
  6. Income Generation
    IEF's public sector hospital partners still treat more than 90% of their patients free. So generating income is critical to the institutions' financial sustainability. We help our partners develop revenue generating activities and services without relying on patient fees.

The IEF's blindness prevention and sight saving programs are funded by governmental, foundation, and corporate contributors, as well as individuals like you who generously donate online. Our website showcases our successes and our breadth of services to the developing world. Feel free to contact us with specific questions or requests. [ SRM in Action ]

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Detailed IEF financial information is available on our Funding page.