As pioneers in eye care for over 20 years, Sharp Sight believes in providing eye care of international standards for all. With the trust of over 10 Lac happy patients and more than 5 Lac successful surgeries and procedures, Sharp Sight has established itself as a leading eye care provider in North India with seven centers and 2 in Tajikistan and Nigeria. “We were the first to be accredited with NABH, which stands for very high International quality clinical services”, says Deepshikha Sharma, CEO, Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals.

Empanelled with more than 100 corporate,  health insurance companies, CGHS, ECHS, DGEHS and other Govt. Panels to provide cashless treatment, Sharp Singht has been awarded as 'Best Eye Care Provider' by Times of India, 'Best Outreach Program' in Ophthalmology by the Business world. From severe eye conditions to paediatric ophthalmology, it has expert ophthalmologists and clinical support to take care of our patients with any eye care disorder. With many firsts to its credit, Sharp Sight has always endeavoured to bring in the latest technologies under its fold in order to benefit the needy. 

With a strong acumen and an eye for operational excellence in addition to revenue and profitability focus, Deepshikha has paved her way to success from a humble beginning of a career with Tata as a sales executive in the year 2001.

Says Deepshikha, “my inspiration are the people around whom I work.  The struggles they people go through with a smile are my strength.” She is responsible for successfully expanding a single hospital into a successful chain.  As a CEO. her primary responsibility is driving the organizational culture, P&L, implementing strategic initiatives for growth, long term capacity building, enhancing stickiness of the team and brand building.

She believes that “our Indian healthcare system needs nurturing and deserves a minimum of 8-9% of GDP allocation in the government budget. She persuades people to rethink Healthcare misconceptions and consider them as a necessity rather than an emergency requirement to prevent serious crises.

Her future endeavors include providing quality eye care facilities at doorsteps even in the remotest part of the country. Even today majority of good quality eye care delivery is centered around Tier 1 cities whereas Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are still under serviced.

“We want to be in places where the need is, in addition setting up eye hospitals in all these smaller towns and cities will give employment opportunities for the local population. Woman empowerment is an integral part of our organizational thought process and we try to ensure that we hire as many women as possible in smaller cities and towns.”

Deepshikha recently interacted with SME WORLD.

Describe the journey of your exemplary achievement of becoming CEO of a famous chain of hospitals. Was it wrought with challenges? Explain.

After completing my post graduation from Delhi University, I embarked on my professional journey with the prestigious TATA group in the year 2001. The business insight I gained there, assisted me in realising and unleashing my full potential.

My formative experience as a COO at Sharp Sight, along with my enthusiasm and drive to achieve great things, propelled me to the coveted position of CEO at Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals in 2019.The big leap changed my world forever. Every day since then has been a learning experience and I have continued to progress by keeping a faith in myself, taking on new tasks, and delving deep inside myself to discover new frontiers. My team at Sharp Sighthas been my pillar of support and I truly believe whatever I am today is due to my team's support and their trust in our vision.

As a mother and a woman, I've had my fair share of challenges managing my job and personal life, but thanks to my family, who has been so supportive, that I've not only been able to overcome challenges but have achieved many milestones in my career.

How did you overcome challenges in the face of competition from the established Eye care health centers?

Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals was founded in 2002 by two entrepreneurial ophthalmologists, Dr. Samir Sud and Dr. Kamal Kapur, with the goal of providing quality eye care in areas that lacked conventional medical facilities. We have focused on delivering world-class eye care services at affordable prices since our beginning because we think that giving the best patient and customer experience is paramount in healthcare. We are always trying to push the envelope by enhancing our services, whether by investing in new technologies or by delivering specialised services to our consumers.

What distinguishes us is that we offer exceptional eyecare services at reasonable costs. We were the first to provide full eye treatment for as little as Rs. 99/-, which is a significant differentiator in the Ophthalmology market. It has always been our goal to provide inexpensive eye care solutions to people from all walks of life.

Realizing the difficulties people go through in smaller cities due to inadequate facilities and lack of medical staff, we are spreading our wings to tier 2 & 3 cities. We intend to create a healthcare system where no one is deprived of treatment or surgery due to insufficient funds.  

Kindly elaborate: 'Driven with the purpose of creating an organization that can provide joys of vision to enhance the quality of life of people'.

India accounts for a disproportionate percentage of worldwide blindness. While efforts have been made to reduce the prevalence of blindness, and we have had great success in improving cataract surgical rates (CSR), the major dearth in reducing the prevalence of blindness is growing due to the ageing population, population growth, a lack of a comprehensive eye care approach, and weak PEC systems.

Since I took over the reins at Sharp Sight Eye Centre eighteen years ago, I was filled with the inspiration to pursue our mission to prevent blindness and provide eyecare at affordable prices.  This strong inspiration continues to drive me even today as we continue to pursue our vision of the elimination of avoidable blindness.In our fight against eye diseases, we are ably supported by an outstanding team of doctors.

With over five lakh surgeries to our credit and backed by a wealth of experience, I am happy to say that we have made giant strides in the field of eye care. We have the distinction of amongst the first few hospital chain to be accredited with NABH, which stands for very high International quality clinical services. We added another feather to our cap when we were awarded as 'Best Eye Care Provider' by Times of India, & 'Best Outreach Program' in Ophthalmology by the Business world, identifying our contribution towards the society.

What is the Indian scenario in terms of eye care amongst the common man?

Eye problems are frequently disregarded by many in our country. A large number of Indians need ophthalmic treatment. Despite major advances in affordable technology and innovative models of eye health care delivery, blindness poses a major public health issue in India. As the world's second most populated country, it is home to 23.5 percent of the world's blind people. Cataracts, refractive errors, infantile blindness, corneal blindness, glaucoma, and incompetent eye surgeons all contribute to blindness. Furthermore, People in rural and semi-urban regions are deprived of any health treatment due to a shortage of eye care centres and medical professionals.

However, the healthcare landscape is changing, and there is a growing emphasis on high-quality surgery and skill enhancement among ophthalmologists. In addition, government and private healthcare actors are now collaborating to develop low-cost, high-efficiency healthcare facilities to satisfy the people's healthcare requirements.

Is it the cost factor which keeps away the suffering people?

Healthcare expenditures in India are spiralling by the day. There's an increasing number of customers who avoid going to the doctor because they are afraid of large bills which ultimately contributes to even higher health-care costs. People, who are financially dependent on others, such as high-risk elderly patients and women who rely on their spouses, often do not receive adequate treatment due to lack of money.

Aside from the expense, poor facilities and medical equipment, a shortage of physicians at government hospitals, and a lack of trained medical personnel and unethical activities at private hospitals all serve as deterrents.

What should be done by the government to strengthen the healthcare sector for the commoners?

The Indian healthcare system is dealing with the consequences of current communicable and noncommunicable illnesses, as well as the growing burden of emerging and re-emerging diseases. The government needs to develop a comprehensive plan to improve healthcare by implementing measures such as allocating a budget which is at least 8 to 9 percent of our GDP, central and state governments working together to implement programmes, encouraging private spending and participation, and introducing health savings accounts and insurance. Incentivizing qualified medical practitioners to work in rural regions and expanding the number of seats in medical schools would further bolster the healthcare in rural areas.

What is your growth trajectory for the Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals?

Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals have evolved from a small organization to a large conglomerate in a short period of time. In 2002, we opened our first clinic with the goal of providing high-quality, low-cost eye care. We haven't looked back since, continuing to write countless success stories by creating a chain of ten eye care centres and making new advances in the field of eye treatment.

We intend to continue consolidating our position as a leader in eye care by opening eye care facilities even at the remotest parts of the country. Our vision is to strengthen our foothold in areas where there are unmet demands of comprehensive reasonable eye care services like in Tier 2 and 3 cities. We have recently ventured into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and have begun work for new settlements in Asansol, Srinagar, Jhansi, Jammu, Agartala, & Ranchi. We aim to establish 35 centers in Tier 2 & 3 cities in the next 3 years' time. Our increasing popularity can be judged by the fact that we have our strong Digital presence with over 1 lakh followers on Facebook and have a rating of 4.8 on Google ranking.

What is your vision for a healthy India?

Our vision for a healthy India is one with a robust healthcare management system that ensures a sufficient number of educated healthcare personnel to provide better services, focuses on health care accessibility, affordability, human resource development, infrastructure development, promoting e-health, IoT (Internet of Things) technology in the healthcare sector, and research and innovation development, paving the way for sustainable and inclusive healthcare facilities to people at large.