Medical Tourism

Introduction : The term Medical Tourism has been gaining immense popularity in the prevalent health scenario. Being referred to as medical travel/health tourism/global healthcare, Medical Tourism combines the kinetics of tourism and the potentiality of medical treatment. This term has been typically coined by the mass media and the flourishing travel industry to describe the rapidly growing practice of traveling across international borders to obtain medical treatment. Glorified by the medical fraternity as "Health Care", Medical treatment services include elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as Cosmetic surgeries, joint replacement (knee/hip), dental surgery and cardiac surgery. With Holistic medicines, Aromatherapy, Naturopathy, Magnetotherapy and Ayurveda catching up wide popularity, the trend seems to be fast catching up among the increasingly health conscious population of todays age. Initially, the practical nature of medical tourism had been debated among several quarters since the providers and customers commonly used informal channels of communication/contract, meaning less regulatory or legal oversight to assure quality and recourse to reimbursement or redress, if and when needed. Travel agents associate leisure aspects along with the medical package, and hence prospective medical tourism patients have to be aware and vigilant of the extra cost of travel and accommodations when deciding on treatment locations. Want a nose job? Combine it with a safari in South Africa. Want a Face lift? Go to Mexico and lollygag at the pool while you recover. Or, get bigger breasts in Bangkok and tummy tucks in Argentina. Although it's buyer beware, most Web-based medical tourism companies boast state-of-the-art facilities and highly trained medical staff.
Medical Tourism is in fact not a novel concept. People needing treatment in the past have been travelling long distances to destinations that were endowed with gifted natural locales and physicians. A dip in the holy Ganges river in India is considered to heal several ailments. This is due to the medicinal properties acquired by the churning out of herbs, roots, sand and stones by the raging waters rushing down the slopes of the flora-and-fauna-rich mighty Himalayas. Medical care combined with pilgrimage thus inspired many to flock the banks of the river Ganga.
Medical tourism destinations finding wider acceptability worldwide are India, Argentina, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Jordan, Lithuania, Hungary, Holand, Hong Kong, Cuba, Colombia, Brunei, New Zealand and Tunisia. For cosmetic surgery the destinations are India, Turkey, Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina. For reproductive tourism it is India and Argentina.

Medical Tourism in INDIA : India is also fast emerging as a prime location for cardiac and neurological care. Complex surgeries and transplants are being done at numerous hospitals across the vast expanse in India especially at Bangalore, Chennai, Bombay, Delhi and in the State of Kerala. Last year, one of the notable arrivals at Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, was 14-year-old Elliot Knott. In December 2004, the boy had a fall while ice-skating and was bed-ridden due to a major spinal injury. The doctor gave him an appointment in June 2005 and then told him that his surgery could only be possible in December that year or early 2006. The family decided to come to India and within two weeks of his arrival, Elliot was walking. He rejoined school as soon as he went back to the UK. In Punjab alone, more than five lakh NRIs make annual visits home. This single largest group of visitors is a big source of revenue, especially for the dental treatment and cosmetic surgery market. Also, every year half a million Britons and an equal number of US citizens visit India for vacation and sightseeing. They comprise the other large group of medical tourists which combines a vacation with low-cost cosmetic surgery or dental treatment. The third group of patients is from poor African nations or SAARC countries where the medical facilities are not developed. For them India is the best bet.

Cost Factor : Indian corporate hospitals are conforming to international standards, but the cost of treatment is about one-eighth to one-fifth of that in the US or the UK. Heart surgery in the US costs $30,000. In India, a top-of-the-line healthcare facility would charge about $6,000. Advanced orthopaedic surgery at a top tertiary care hospital in India costs around $6,000 as against $20,000 in the West. The treatment cost includes the cost of medicines and healthcare delivery. Also included are the hospital bed charges per day and the doctor’s fee. Room charges for a day in a top Indian hospital are Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000, whereas they come to $1000-1500 a day in the US.
Besides the cost factor, a number of reasons have contributed to the increase in the number of patients coming to India. The health delivery systems in many western countries are overburdened as patients face long waiting periods just to see a specialist. Whereas in India, the latest infrastructure and medical technology are now readily available and hospitals offer surgical techniques similar to those carried out in the West. Indian doctors are widely recognised as being among the best the world over. In fact, many Indian doctors practising in the West have actually come back to practise in top leading hospitals in Indian metros.