Cost effective private medical care in collaboration with the tourism industry for patients needing surgical or other forms of specialized treatments is the trust of medical tourism concept.
- Health Tourism is now a common form of vacationing and covers a broad spectrum of medical services. It mixes leisure, fun relaxation together with wellness & Health care.
- Many people from developed world had been coming to India & even they come now in more numbers for the rejuvenation promised by Yoga & Ayurvedic massage.
- Now with a good blend of top class medical hospitals with doctors of international repute, our hospitals are being considered for hip replacement or brain surgery lot of foreign patients including from developed countries like UK and US are coming to India.
- Affluent nations with high medical care costs look for effective options & India has proved to be very competitive which have good hospitals very salubrious climate, advanced medical facilities & built in tourism medical options.
Things are going in favour of India as compared to Singapore, Thailand, in view of high quality expertise of medical professionals, backed by the latest equipment in use & nursing facilities and above all cost effectiveness of the medical packages.
India has gained high reputation for handling very specialized treatments like cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, Joint Replacement, Orthopedic Surgery,Gastroentology, Ophthalmology, transplants including Neurology, Neurosurgery, Oncology, Rheumatology, Dermatology, Pediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery and General Surgery.
Indian corporate hospitals are on par if not better than the best hospitals in any parts of the global & thus become a preferred medical destination.
In addition to the cost part, top class medical care, a big draw for foreign patients. And the very minimal or hardly any waitlist as is common in Europe, USA is the favourable point for India. In fact priority treatment is offered today in Indian hospitals to foreigners.
The Apollo Group, Escorts in New Delhi, Jaslok & Hindjas in Mumbai are of great repute other corporate hospitals include Dr. L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital in Hyderabad. NM Excellence in Mumbai, in Vellore, all have been handling a steady increasing flow of foreign patients.
What makes India unique is the costs are much less almost one third of those in Asian Countries & one tenth of UK/USA or Canada and more patients are now from poorer countries like Bangladesh where treatment may not be available.
Now the country is moving into a new area of “Medical Outsourcing” where sub contractors provide services to the overburdened medical care system in western countries.
It is estimated that medical tourism could bring between $1 billion to $2 billion US into the country by 2012. The MC Kinsey report which has shown the above estimate has also estimated that Medical Tourism to India is growing by 30% a year.
India’s top related education system is helping in its growth by churning out 20,000 to 30,000 doctors, engineers, nurses each year which helps to sustain the growth.
As understood from sources, Apollo Hospital treated 60,000 patients 2001-04.
Dr. Reddy had negotiations with British National Health service for treatment of their patients at a fraction of the cost in Britain for either govt. or private care. Infect Apollo Hospital is aggressively moving into Medical outsourcing.
India is now promoting easy import of modern equipment. Apollo now has 37 hospitals with about 7000 beds. The company in partnership with Kuwait, Srilanka and many other countries.
According to study conducted by the C.I.I. & MC Kinsey Consultants last year some 150,000 foreigner visited India for medical treatment with number increasing between 15% to 20% per year.
With an increasing number of foreign patients India could earn Rs. 100 billion through Medical Tourism by 2012 is their study report. It is not only the cost but competency which is India’s selling point – through its bench mark is cheap safe and best alternative.
In one article in USA I read about costs comparison – Instead of paying $ 2,00,000 for a mitral valve surgery in US a patient could travel to India & receive the same treatment for $ 7000 US. Similarly rather than paying UK15000 Pound for hip resurfacing in UK a patient can get the same treatment for UK 5000 Pound in India including surgery, airfare & hotel stay ( Bloomberg Market & Magazine source).
A number of private hospitals also offer packages designed to attract foreign patients, with airport transfer, Hospital bed, car service, in room internet access, private chefs and the trend is health holiday combining surgery with Yoga holiday or trip to Taj or hill station etc. The post surgery care is the best selling point of Indian medical tourism.
Medical Tourism is going to be major foreign exchange earner as increasing number of patients unwilling to accept long queue in US, UK and high cost now will travel to India under go surgery with traditional therapies like Yoga, meditation, Ayurveda and other naturo therapy. On India’s high specialized medical treatment at an affordable with no waiting time is my feeling.
