Boom of Medical Tourism in India

Although going to Western shores is a very lucrative option for Indian doctors, but an increasing number of foreign nationals are turning to hospitals in India for their treatment options. Over a million medical tourists have travelled to India in the last decade alone, bringing in earnings in excess of $3 billion.

Most patients visiting India are from neighbouring countries, but an increasing number of NRIs settled in the US and the UK have also been availing of healthcare services in India. There has also been a tremendous increase in traffic from the African nations too. The Planning Commission holds superior quality of medical service coupled with the low cost of surgeries responsible for making the country one of the most attractive destinations for medical value travel.

 

One of the premier destinations for medical tourism is Apollo Hospitals. With more than 30 hospitals spread all across India, Apollo Hospitals has become a recongnizable brand in the International Healthcare scene. With all super-specialities being covered up, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi is a major hub of medical tourism from around the globe. With a record number of Liver Transplants and the use of Robotic Surgery to perform complex cancer procedures, a huge number of people are making a beeline to this healthcare giant.

To take into perspective the reason behind this boom, we open up a report by Former Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The report reveals that while a heart bypass surgery would cost a patient $6,000 in India, the same surgery would cost the person $23,938 in the US and $19,700 in Britain. While a bone marrow transplant would cost $30,000 in India, doctors in US would charge anywhere between $250,000-400,000 while those in UK would charge $150,000. But although the prices are less, there has always been a question of quality that has been raised by the western counterparts.

To assuage those fears, the Joint Commision International(JCI) has been set up which acts as a quality control Inspector making sure that the hospitals around the country are maintaining standards in accordance with International Guidelines. Apollo Hospitals has many centres of excellence which have been ratified by the JCI.

But one of the major hurdles that remains is the insurance company imposed barriers on patients coming from countries like the US and UK. With major policy changes in the pipelines and hospitals in India entering into alliances with international insurance companies, this hurdle soon seems to be a thing of the past. So, the next time we shout out Incredible India, medical tourism will also be in the same breath.