Medical Tourism in India

Medical Tourism in India, also known as Health Tourism India, is a growing concept whereby people from all over the world visit India for their medication accompanied with a short holiday. The health care sector in India has witnessed an enormous growth in infrastructure in the private and voluntary sector. The private sector, which was very modest in the early stages, has now become a flourishing industry equipped with the most modern. state-of-the-art technology at its disposal.


As Indian corporate hospitals are on par, if not better than the best hospitals in Thailand, Singapore, etc there is scope for improvement, and the country may become a preferred medical destination. In addition to the increasingly top class medical care, a big draw for foreign patients is also the very minimal or hardly any waitlist as is common in European or American hospitals. In fact, priority treatment is provided today in Indian hospitals.

The Apollo Group, Escorts Hospitals in New Delhi and Jaslok Hospitals in Mumbai are to name a few which are established names even abroad. A list of corporate hospitals such as Global Hospitals, CARE and Dr L.V. Prasad Eye Hospitals in Hyderabad, The Hindujas and NM Excellence in Mumbai, also have built capabilities and are handling a steadily increasing flow of foreign patients. India has much more expertise than say Thailand or Malaysia. The infrastructure in some of India's hospitals is also very good. What is more significant is that the costs are much less, almost one-third of those in other Asian countries.


Key highlights:-

• Healthcare industry is the world's largest industry with total revenues of approx US$ 2.8 Trillion (2005).
• With global revenues of approximately US$ 20 Billion (2005), the medical tourism industry is one of the world's largest industry.
• India's cost effective treatment makes it an important player in this industry.
• India's high population makes it an important player in the Healthcare Industry. According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, the Indian healthcare industry has the potential to show the same exponential growth that the software industry showed in the past decade.
• In India, 80% of the healthcare expenditure is borne by the patients and that borne by the state is 12%. The expenditure covered by insurance claims is 3%. As a result, the price sensitivity is quite high and the high-level healthcare facilities are not in the reach of patients.
• Growing Medical tourism in India will be one of the major sources for foreign exchange.
• With increasing number of non-insured population in western countries and increasing healthcare expenditure to GDP resulting in people opting for treatment choices outside their country.