Managing people with sheer love

Dr Kasu Prasad Reddy, the founder of Maxivision Super Speciality Eye Hospitals, comes from a political family — his uncle, the late Kasu Brahmananda Reddy was a Chief Minister, his father, the late Kasu Vengala Reddy was a Member of Parliament and Zilla Parishad Chairman while brother Kasu Krishna Reddy was a minister. Interestingly, his nephew is also in the political field. 

“My brother-in-law, Dr Gangadhar Reddy and I are the only ophthalmologists in the family and we have nothing to do with politics. My knowledge of business is nil and I have never looked at health care as a business,” says Dr Kasu Prasad candidly.

It was in 1996 when he performed the first Lasik in the UK, and realised that this technology would be very useful for people in India. “From 1978 to 1998, I was in England, but in 1996, I decided to come back to India with a new technology that would benefit our people — Lasik — to get rid of glasses. Although my idea was good, I had already failed in a nursing home business in England and worried about the money I had in hand. However, my idea was to give maximum vision with the latest technology available and so, I decided to call my surgical service centre Maxivision,” narrates Dr Kasu Prasad, who admits that having no knowledge of how to run a health care business was and continues to be his biggest challenge. 

“I don’t understand a balance sheet and business management, but I manage people with love. Health care challenges are all about managing people. No one likes to visit a hospital and when they do, every patient and their relatives come with expectations of their own. It is our job to manage them with utmost care. My guiding principle is that the patient is always right and we only need patience to listen to them and answer every query,” says the humble doctor.

Dr Kasu Prasad recalls the many challenges he had to face when he started the Maxivision project. “When I decided to bring the technology to India, I had to sell my wife’s properties and one of my best friends, Dr Kodandarami Reddy, became a partner in my venture while our mutual friend, Dandamudi Poornachandra Rao became a non-investment partner. My staff was like my family, starting with my first employee Narmada, who was a pillar of support,” recalls the doctor, adding, “My dedication towards the cause meant that I could not give enough time to my son and my wife. While success in business breeds success, there is always a price to pay and I paid mine.” The 68-year-old also coined the word ‘Phacotechmix’ or ‘Phacomix’, which is a process of mixing five different technologies to give freedom from glasses for anyone above the age of 40.

Named after his grandfather who was a dedicated doctor, Dr Kasu Prasad credits his grandmother for persuading him to become a doctor. “Coming from a political family, it was a tough decision to become a doctor, but my grandmother and parents helped me achieve it,” says Dr Kasu Prasad with a smile.

The down-to-earth Taurean enjoys being a doctor and loves every speciality in medicine, adding that his wife is his strength. “Like anybody, even I have positive and negative traits. The only person who knows my negative side is my wife Shyla and she is totally responsible for who I am and what I am today,” says the adventurous doctor, who once climbed a 500 foot radio tower to save a man while he was learning and practicing medicine in The National Health System of United Kingdom. The incident even got featured in the national news.

Dr Kasu Prasad’s entrepreneurial journey has been full of ups and downs. “In 2011, my friends and partners wanted to part ways and I was forced to sell my family-run healthcare business to a corporate company in Chennai. I continued as the Chief Surgeon and Co-Chairman of Maxivision and concentrated on my surgical practice, so although my growth as an entrepreneur ceased, my career as a practicing surgeon continues,” he says and adds, “The hardest lesson I learnt is that you   shouldn’t sell your ideology and if you do, don’t stay in the same business to watch the ideologies change on a daily basis.”

Other Passions
Piloting and sports keep me sane. I played cricket, hockey, squash and tennis earlier and now I play golf every day. I make time to see my grandchildren and my dog, Rocky too.

Interesting anecdotes
I  have many, but the one that touches my heart is about my very first friend at the age of eight, Haridas, who was very poor. I stole money from my mother for him and his family. I got caught and was punished by her, but was appreciated by my father. After my return from England, Haridas met me and asked for money to start a business, which I gave. However, his business failed and he committed suicide. I learnt that the poor in India have self-respect and pride in them, the reason why we rich are surviving.