Evaluation of alternate outreach models for cataract services in rural Nepal.

Background: Bharatpur Eye Hospital in Chitwan District, a primarily agrarian setting in south-central Nepal, reduced the number of diagnostic screening and treatment (DST) camps by one half (151 to 75) in an attempt to increase both the efficiency of its outreach program and the number of people that go directly to the hospital for service. The Hospital evaluated the two program models in terms of program costs, cataract surgical utilization, hospital direct payment and patient equity.

Methods: The study is a prospective, before and after, study of the impact of an alternate outreach model on cataract service utilization patterns and cost per outreach camp and cost per cataract surgery at Bharatpur Eye Hospital, comparing the service years July 2006 to June 2007, with July 2007 to June 2008.