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India Reports’ Weekly Medical Tourism News Updates announces that Specialty Hospitals are expanding referral networks

www.india-reports.com, the website that provides the most relevant and upto date information on India and doing business in India is offering a Weekly News Update on the Indian Medical Tourism industry which captures latest news, trends, events and happenings in the Indian Medical Tourism sector.

The latest news update talks of how uninsured patients will travel to countries like India for treatment. Top specialty hospitals in India are establishing networks with local players, both national and international, to expand their referral networks

India Reports has been closely monitoring the Medical Tourism industry in India over the past few years, and has built Medical Tourism expertise and a range of products. To know more, visit http://www.india-reports.com/medical-tourism-wkly/index-wkly.aspx#a

India Reports’ Weekly Medical Tourism News Updates announces that India has emerged as the preferred destination for cardiac surgery

www.india-reports.com, the website that provides the most relevant and upto date information on India and doing business in India is offering a Weekly News Update on the Indian Medical Tourism industry which captures latest news, trends, events and happenings in the Indian Medical Tourism sector.

The latest news update talks how India is fast becoming a hub for medical science and is receiving a growing number of travellers in need of cardiac surgery and healthcare. Indian healthcare technology market is set to become more than $250 million by 2012. Hospitals are improving their diagnostic technology and information management systems.

To know more, visit http://www.india-reports.com/medical-tourism-wkly/index-wkly.aspx#a

India Reports’ Weekly Medical Tourism News Updates – Tourism ministry positions India as spa and health therapy destination at Berlin fair

India Reports’ provides weekly news updates on the Indian Medical Tourism Industry which captures latest news, trends, events and happenings in the Indian Medical Tourism Industry.

The latest news update talks how the Tourism Ministry has identified health tourism as the latest strategic initiative to push tourism in India. India is positioning itself as a healthcare destination with specialized hospitals, skilled professionals and established alternative health care therapies like ayurveda and yoga.

To know more, visit http://www.india-reports.com/medical-tourism-wkly/index-wkly.aspx#a

 

Handbook for Medical Tourist in India $5.99

A handy document for any medical traveler to

India

.

The document presents the list of the top hospitals and their contact information, accreditation information, medical organizations, medical tourism companies, precautions and safety tips for foreigners.

Medical Tourism: A Bangalore INDIA Perspective

Medical Tourism Report   $14.99  available from India-reports.com

‘Medical Tourism: A Bangalore Perspective’ is an informative document for health travelers going to Bangalore.
The report, structured like a survival guide, includes the advantages of medical tourism, the basics about Bangalore, Frequently Asked Questions about services, facilities and procedures, prominent doctors and contact details of some of the lead hospitals in Bangalore as well as testimonials of some patients who have undergone treatment.
All information about hospitals is real time and has been directly sourced from the hospital administration.

Medi cities for affordable health care

Narayana Health City ( NHC) – the latest to join the medi city list. The NHC plan is being promoted by Dr Devi Shetty, India’s leading cardiac specialist, Dr Kiran Shaw of Biocon with private equity investors ( J P Morgan and AIG Investments).

The idea is to provide affordable healthcare and bridge the gap between the private and government health providers. A great idea but the challenge will be in the execution.

The health cities are proposed to come up in Bangalore, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Raipur, Jamshedpur, Bhopal and Delhi. All hospitals will have 5000 beds for various specialties.

Tourism companies better start looking at the domestic medical tourism market.

Luxury in hospitals

The rich and the famous always ensured that they were comfortable, had personal rooms and had the best doctors on call. And now, its all about the luxe factor.

5 star facilities in hospitals is no longer about personal/ private rooms for patients. Presidential suites and birthing suites are being promoted to the nouveau rich.

Private hospitals are going out of the way to promote these new services to patients. These suites cost nearly Rs 25000-30000/ day and promise a home like feel, high quality of personalized service, communicaton systems etc.

People have the resources to afford this luxury. It is high time hospitals introduced ‘sponsor a patient’ concept for people who can pay well.

It is unfortunate for a country to have a booming medical tourism sector and poor state of public health.

The critical aspect is find a balance- how to ensure equitable access to health services

System inefficiencies at retail stores and hospitals

The retail and healthcare boom is happening but inefficiencies are high due to poorly trained manpower.

You shop at a store in 10 minutes flat because you have your list ready and time is short but when you reach the billing counter it takes 10 minutes in the queue- because the team working there is slow and on the learning curve.

A similar experience at my visit to Columbia Asia hospital- the appointment with the doctor is scheduled before hand and the consultation is quick. When you want to buy the prescribed medicine at their drug store, you are waiting for 20 odd minutes or more. Similar is the wait at the billing counter.

One of the critical factors for success of medical tourism and retailing will be the quality and efficiency of manpower deployed for support services.

Accreditation system for Medical Tourism companies

HealthCare Tourism International (HTI) has launched the world’s first international accreditation system for health tourism companies.

Medical Tourism Data for India

         

Indian healthcare is expected to grow at 15% per annum. Medical tourism is expected to become a 2 billion industry by 2012. India expects to provide quality med care to patients from the first world at third world costs. Insurance firms, hospitals, hotels and travel agents are focusing on the new business opportunities.

       

Chillibreeze Business Research Team

Medical Tourism in India

Go to India-Reports.com for information about medical tourism in India.

Outsourcing Britain's elderly to India?
India's medical facilities big hit in UK
Indian medicare eyes foreign markets
Fortis Healthcare to Set Up 950-Bed Hospital in India
Hospitals prepare to get NRI, foreign clientele

Medical Tourism in India: The reality

The ‘tourism’ is out.
Medicare is in.

Recent news reports indicate that only JCI accredited hospitals in India are able to draw patients from Europe and USA. There has been a drop in patients traveling to India from US and Europe during the last year.

Medical tourism: Will it benefit the average Indian?

Public hospitals in India are inefficient, understaffed and mismanaged.
Indian villages have poor health services. Mortality rates and malnutrition in children is common.

Due to increasing privatization of healthcare, the public service framework for health services has considerably deteriorated over the past few years.

In view of the emerging trends, a question that arises is:

Medical Value Travel - trends

Medical Value travel is a synonym for the popular concept known as medical tourism.

US and UK governments are increasingly concerned about their nationals traveling to India and other developing countries for healthcare.

A Medical Tourist's True Story of Lifesaving Surgery in India

Here is a must read for every person planning to travel to India for medical help.

Maggi Ann Grace is author of the book State of the Heart : A Medical Tourist's True Story of Lifesaving Surgery in India. She has taken upon herself to help people travel outside US for medical care.

Medical Tourism: global perspectives

Here are recently published books and interviews with authors who have extensively researched on Medical Tourism:

Medi cities in India : does India have the trained manpower?

India is one of the top destinations for medical tourists.

Corporates including the Hindujas, Apollo, Fortis, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and several others are planning medi cities in major cities across India.

Medi cities are expected to come up at Jaipur, Lucknow, New Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Medical Toursim: India Vs Singapore

The LA Times aptly summarises the medical tourism scene ‘Countries such as India, Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica, Malaysia and Singapore cater to well-heeled foreigners' The article highlights the medical cost savings of 30-80% which Americans enjoy if they get treated at the best hospitals in these countries.

In time to come, low cost treatment will not be the only factor in choosing a medical care destination. India will need to improve its basic public services and infrastructure ( clean public toilets, drinking water, inefficient airports, unsafe building designs, public transport).

Medical Tourism: Patients Beyond Borders

Josef Woodman, author of the book 'Patients Beyond Borders', discusses the future and potential of medical tourism.

The book: http://www.patientsbeyondborders.com/

The interview: http://blog.newmedicalhorizons.com/2007/06/josef-woodman-interview.html

American Medical Tourists?

This an interesting story from the india-reports.com medical tourism newsletter

American ‘Medical Refugees’ in India

 

Medical tourism heralds the birth of a new breed of refugees- “Medical Refugees” as the New England Journal of Medicine(NEJM) calls them. The article in NEJM throws light on the plight of seriously ill Americans who seek treatment in low wage countries. “These patients are not ‘medical tourists’ seeking low-cost aesthetic enhancement but middle-income Americans who need life saving surgeries and want to evade impoverishment by succumbing to expensive healthcare options in America”
This American trend of “off-shoring” of life saving treatments can trace its roots to sky-rocketing health care costs and insurance premiums beyond the reach of low and middle-income Americans.

American physicians who may be concerned about this growing trend, can either condemn and attempt to restrict it or actively support the trend while focusing on the betterment of local health care delivery systems as the NEJM article suggests.

                   

A. Milstein and M. Smith, "America’s New Refugees—Seeking Affordable Surgery Offshore," New England Journal of Medicine 2006; 355(16): 1637–1640