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Through AIER’s high-volume, cross-subsidy
model, high-income groups subsidise low-income
groups, enabling sustainable public welfare
development. AIER provides patients with quality
service not only in its hospitals, but by also making
time for social welfare initiatives to help vulnerable
groups in the community and promoting awareness
of preventive measures against blindness.
THE NEXT GENERATION
The Group is also a leader in medical education
and academic research, and established its own
school, the AIER School of Ophthalmology at the
Central South University in Changsha in 2013.
As the first specialised ophthalmic college in the
country, the School is a leading example of medical
education reform in China and Li sees it as an
important talent hub for expert cultivation. Each
year, 30 postgraduate and 10 doctoral students
are exposed to the best clinical teaching practices,
international research methods, specialist guest
lecturers, and ophthalmic technologies.
In 2013, the AIER Eye Hospital Group and
Hubei University of Science and Technology joined
forces to establish the AIER College of Optometry,
to cultivate talent and develop professionals to meet
the industry demand. Bridging all three areas of
medicine, education and research, the College offers
subjects including optometry, binocular vision, low
vision, contact lens fitting and glasses processing,
with 50 graduates each year. In 2011, the Group
established its own institute, the AIER Optometry
Institute, and in 2015, established the AIER
Ophthalmology Institute. “These partnerships with
other ophthalmic colleagues, international
organisations, and education institutes help us all to
keep developing and optimising new technology,”
Li explains.
To ensure these alliances with leading research and
development institutes continue, AIER launched its
Partnership Program in 2014 to focus on changing
the ecological environment for ophthalmologists and
maximising the creativity and initiative of core
members. Li says the fast development of technology
and innovation in China has been a key driver of
AIER’s growth in recent years.
Using AIER’s online pre-check-up model, patients
are able to contact doctors and have consultations
even before they step into the hospital. Li has found
that this approach not only increases the hospital’s
operational efficiency, but also reduces the rate of
misdiagnosis and helps patients living in rural areas
access medical resources remotely – which resonates
with the company’s mission to ensure people from all
walks of life have access to quality eye care.
To strengthen its offering in the market, AIER has
aligned itself with a number of leading suppliers of »“ WE ARE SEEING THE
INTRODUCTION OF
CUTTING-EDGE
TECHNOLOGIES
LIKE AI AND GENETIC
TECHNOLOGY.”
CATARACT BLINDNESS
According to the World Health
Organization, half of the world’s
blindness is caused by cataract.
As the leading cause of blindness
in China, cataract affects
approximately 2.5 million people,
and each year around 400,000
people become completely blind
because of this abnormality.
While the condition is easily
treated with a straightforward
15-minute operation to replace the
cloudy lens with an artificial one,
this treatment is something millions
are still unable to access – whether
that is due to financial reasons or
living in a remote location.INSPIRE | Interview