VisionCare Eye Clinic — Operations Plan
The clinical service-delivery model, premises, layout and equipment schedule, clinical governance and patient safety, and technology, EMR and POPIA data protection.
Section 6 · Business Plan
Operations Plan
The clinical service-delivery model, premises, layout and equipment schedule, clinical governance and patient safety, and technology, EMR and POPIA data protection.
6.1 Clinical Service Delivery Model
VisionCare operates a multidisciplinary hub-and-spoke clinical model
within a single facility. The patient journey is designed for minimal
friction and maximum clinical value per encounter:
- Arrival and digital check-in at a self-service kiosk, verifying
medical-scheme membership in real-time. - Pre-screening workup by an ophthalmic nurse — visual acuity,
auto-refraction, tonometry — before the patient sees the clinician. This
saves 8–10 minutes of clinician chair-time per encounter. - Primary consultation with the optometrist or (Phase 2)
ophthalmologist. Diagnostic tests ordered are executed in dedicated
imaging rooms while the clinician sees the next patient, then the
patient returns for interpretation and plan discussion. - Dispensing and check-out: the dispensing optician walks the
patient through frame selection and lens options; the billing
coordinator processes scheme claims in real-time via integrated
EDI. - Follow-up and recall: the EMR system automatically schedules
appropriate follow-up appointments and sends annual-recall SMS
reminders.
This flow targets a patient-through-the-door time of 45–55 minutes
for a full examination including dispensing — materially shorter than
the 70–90 minutes typical in hospital-based ophthalmology clinics and
comparable to the best-in-class retail optical experience.
6.2 Premises, Layout & Equipment Schedule
The primary site will occupy approximately 320 square metres in a
well-trafficked retail or medical-park location within the agreed
catchment area. The layout allocates space as follows:
| Zone | Area (m²) | % of Total | Primary Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reception, waiting, retail dispensary | 80 | 25% | Patient arrival, frame display, dispensing desks |
| Consultation rooms (×3) | 54 | 17% | Optometrist and (Phase 2) ophthalmology consultations |
| Diagnostic imaging suite | 45 | 14% | OCT, visual field, fundus camera, topographer |
| Pre-workup room | 18 | 6% | Nurse-led pre-screening and auto-refraction |
| Contact lens fitting room | 15 | 5% | CL assessments and dispensing |
| Minor procedure / laser room | 24 | 7% | YAG, intravitreal injections (Phase 2) |
| Day-case theatre + recovery (Phase 2) | 50 | 16% | Cataract phacoemulsification with IOL |
| Admin, staff, storage, sterilisation | 34 | 11% | Back-of-house functions |
| Total | 320 | 100% | — |
Core Equipment Schedule
The clinical equipment investment totals R 3.20 million in Phase 1,
with a further R 2.40 million committed to Phase 2 surgical capability.
All equipment is sourced from tier-1 global manufacturers under
five-year service contracts:
| Equipment | Manufacturer / Model Tier | Qty | Cost (R ‘000) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spectral-domain OCT | Zeiss Cirrus / Heidelberg Spectralis | 1 | 850 |
| Automated visual field analyser | Humphrey HFA3 / Octopus 600 | 1 | 520 |
| Corneal topographer / tomographer | Pentacam / Topcon Aladdin | 1 | 380 |
| Non-mydriatic fundus camera + AI module | Topcon / NIDEK AFC-330 | 1 | 340 |
| Slit-lamp biomicroscope | Haag-Streit BQ 900 | 3 | 285 |
| Auto-refractor / keratometer | Topcon / NIDEK combo | 2 | 180 |
| Non-contact tonometer | Reichert / Canon | 2 | 90 |
| Digital lensmeter | Nidek LM-7 / Topcon CL-300 | 1 | 55 |
| Phoropter + chart projector | Essilor / Topcon | 3 | 145 |
| YAG / SLT laser (Phase 2) | Ellex / Lumenis | 1 | 420 |
| Phacoemulsification unit (Phase 2) | Alcon Centurion / Bausch + Lomb | 1 | 1,200 |
| Operating microscope (Phase 2) | Zeiss OPMI Lumera / Leica | 1 | 650 |
| Sterilisation autoclave + instrumentation | Tuttnauer / Getinge | 1 | 130 |
| Total Equipment Investment | Phase 1 + Phase 2 combined | — | 5,245 |
6.3 Clinical Governance, Quality & Patient Safety
A documented Quality Management System (QMS) is central to both
clinical safety and investor assurance. The QMS comprises:
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for every
clinical pathway, developed against HPCSA guidelines and OSSA
best-practice protocols. - Monthly morbidity & mortality review chaired
by the Chief Medical Officer, with all adverse events, near-misses, and
complications reviewed and corrective actions logged. - Outcome-metrics tracking including
cataract-surgery visual-acuity outcomes, endophthalmitis rate, posterior
capsule rupture rate, and refractive outcome precision — all benchmarked
to published international standards. - Patient complaint and compliment register
reviewed monthly, with root-cause analysis for every formal
complaint. - Infection prevention and control (IPC) protocols
for instrument sterilisation, surface decontamination, and theatre
etiquette, audited quarterly. - Annual clinical audit by an external
ophthalmologist not employed by the Company, with audit reports tabled
at board meetings.
6.4 Technology, EMR & Data Protection (POPIA)
VisionCare operates on a single integrated technology stack anchored
by an ophthalmology-configured Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system
(shortlisted options include GoodX, Elixir-Live, and HealthOne). The EMR
integrates with diagnostic devices via DICOM interfaces so that OCT
scans, visual fields, and fundus photographs are automatically filed to
the patient record, eliminating transcription risk.
The practice-management layer handles real-time medical-scheme
eligibility verification, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) claim
submission, and reconciliation with scheme remittances. Point-of-sale
functionality extends to the optical retail side, with inventory tracked
at frame-SKU level.
POPIA compliance is embedded rather than bolted on: all patient data
is encrypted at rest and in transit, a registered Information Officer is
appointed at launch, a documented Data Processing Agreement is in place
with every third-party processor (including the cloud EMR vendor), and
an incident-response protocol addresses data-breach notification to both
the Information Regulator and affected data subjects within statutory
timelines.
Confidential — this business plan is provided to prospective investors and lenders for evaluation purposes only and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written consent of VisionCare Eye Clinic (Pty) Ltd.