Medical Tourism In India

'No force on Earth can stop an Idea whose time has come' -- Victor Hugo

Insurance companies in USA & the NHS in UK do not underwrite health-care expenses incurred overseas – unless an already-insured person needs emergency-care while traveling abroad. But Medical Tourism Companies like  Panacea Overseas began to come up when finally, in 2006, an Insurance & Finance company called Union Group Programs in Boca Raton, Florida, USA, convinced 40 of their Corporate Clients to opt to send their employees overseas for surgical procedures (Newsweek International, 30^th Oct 2006). They broke the taboo! The fundamental reason to do so:save up to 80-90% of what it would cost in USA.

Medical Tourism is something everyone knows about but very few understand. Medical Tourism is an established industry in other countries like Thailand, Malaysia & Singapore. Even Brazil, Turkey, Israel &Lithuania are competing. The Government of India & the Ministry of Health & Confederation of Indian Industries began to promote it actively. External Affairs Ministry set up the provision of issuing Medical Visas on priority to Westerners seeking health-care in India. According to the study conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry and McKinsey consultants, in 2005 some 150,000 foreigners visited Indiafor treatment. And it is growing fast. Like any growing industry, it’s all about Demand, Supply & Quality-Assurance.

   

Demand exists because :--

1.       In USA ,

·         Rising Health-Care Costs & commensurately rising Health-Insurance Premiums are critical today.

·         16% of America’s GDP is spent on Health-Care, in 5 years it might be 20%.

·         Millions of workers in the 18-33 years age-group do not enroll for Health-Insurance.

·         46 million Americans have no Health-Insurance at all.

·         Another 30-to-40-million Americans have Inadequate-Health-Insurance.

·         Industry & Businesses are suffering the burden of Employees’ Health-Insurance.

·         50% of Domestic bankruptcies & major Corporate Failures like Airlines & Steel industry are grim evidence of    the severity & magnitude of the problem.

2.       In UK & Canada , though the government delivers free-health-care, the Waiting Lists for important surgical procedures  are so long that people are compelled to suffer. Immediate surgery in Private hospitals being exorbitantly expensive, they have no choice but to seek treatment overseas.

3.       In Africa , medical technology has not yet reached & infrastructure not yet developed – so even money cant buy it   there – and so they flock to other countries.

Supply is assured because :-

4.       India offers the cheapest rates for all surgical procedures be they Cardiac, Spinal, Cosmetic, Orthopedic, Dental or  Transplant Surgery as compared to Thailand, Malaysia &Singapore.                                                                               

5.       The latest technological equipment is available in Delhi - be it a Flat-Panel Detector Cardiac CathLab system,   combined Gamma Camera/CT systems, a Brain-Suite with Intra-Operative MRI, a 3-Tesla MRI-scanner or even a   64-slice CT-scanner.                                                                                                                                                                  

6.       Delhi has ApolloHospital, EscortsHospital (International fame; 15,000 open-heart surgeries annually with 0.8% mortality) & MaxHospital – which are already receiving patients from developed Western Countries. State-of-the-Art Hospitals like ArtemisHospital & MediCity in Gurgaon (25 Kms from IGIAirport) will be , plan to be JCI Accredited by 2008-2009.

7.       Most of the Surgeons in these hospitals are qualified & trained in the USA or UK and gained experience there too.

8.       Delhi has excellent airlines connectivity with direct International Flights from New York, Newark,Chicago, Toronto, London & Manchester available almost daily.

9.       Overseas patients from UK & Canada can Avoid Waiting Lists altogether. They can undergo any major surgical procedure the very next day after arrival in Delhi as long as the Pre-Anesthetic tests are acceptable.

Quality Assurance

10.   JCI is the International arm of Joint Council on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations(JCAHO), the same organization that certifies quality of health-care services in every medical establishment in the USA. JCI Accreditation is the gold-standard for Quality in health-care. Until now, Five hospitals inIndia have acquired JCI Accreditation:

·         Apollo Hospital, Delhi ·         Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad ·         Apollo Hospital Chennai

·         Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai ·         Shroff Eye Hospital , Mumbai

11.   Escorts Heart Institute & MaxHospital in Delhi are not JCI Accredited but have ISO 9001-2000 ratings. Escorts Heart Institute conducts 15,000 open-heart surgery annually & has a global reputation due to an amazing post-operative mortality rates of 0.8%. Max Devki Devi Heart & Vascular Institute has just started 3 years ago, but in Cardaic surgery they are getting so many international patients. Max Institute of NueroSciences has the 3^rd Brain-Suite in the world, which is the ultimate in technological advancement for Brain-surgery.

12. All these hospitals look like 5-Star deluxe hotels & have services & facilities to match.

Three factors hinder the growth & usefulness of the Medical Tourism industry :--

1.     There is no reliable database of all those who need major surgical treatment urgently amongst the 46-million Americans who have No-Health-Insurance at all OR even the 30-to-40 million Americans who have Inadequate-Health-Insurance. It is very difficult to identify & locate them & yet they would benefit the most from Medical Tourism. It is a problem for Medical Tourism companies to specifically identify the unfortunate patients in UK or Canada whose sufferings are compounded by long unbearableWaiting-Lists.

2.     Health-Insurance companies in USA are reluctant to embrace the very concept of Medical Tourism. A probable reason might be that they fear that in case something goes wrong, it would be very difficult to bring malpractice suits against the Surgeons & Hospitals in foreign lands, but it stands to reason thatan individual who can’t even afford health-insurance, would rather seek life-saving & life-improving health-care first and worry about litigation later. Fortune-500 health-insurance companies are, in any case, far beyond the reach of the millions of Americans who actually suffer due to the rising costs of health-care & rising health-insurance premiums. But these insurance companies lead the way and most of the other smaller companies try to emulate their success stories. 

3.     Acquiring JCI Accreditation is an expensive venture considering it is valid for only 3 years. A JCI accreditation would cost a hospital approximately US$ 60,000 - US$100,000. Typically, the accreditation process lasts for about 2 years and involves two surveys by a team of consultants from JCI who also educate the hospital staff about various standards and their implementation. But that is absolutely fair considering the basic fact that Medical Tourism exists on the assurance of excellence in health-care.

 However, the industry continues to grow due to sheer necessity. Until & unless there is a change in mind-set and policies within Health-Insurance Companies, Medical Tourism will remain a disorganized industry. Inspired by the Union Group Programs initiative, they are writing to all the Health-Insurance companies in USA to develop a product such as:--

·         A health insurance plan that would be priced significantly less than present plans

·         A plan that covers Primary & Emergency Care within the USA, but

·         A plan in which clients agree to undergo Major Surgical procedures in Foreign Hospitals

Medical Tourism companies in India can manage the entire process of getting Overseas Health-Care fromexpediting Medical Visas, to receiving the patients at the Indian airports, escorting our clients at every step, networking with the Hospitals/Doctors until the admission-formalities are completed, arrangingSight-Seeing tours -- all as a package deal -- to even arranging follow-up care from the original Doctor who examined and made the diagnosis for individual patient.

Outsourcing Healthcare overseas in India is an Option for Westerners’ who seek highest Quality Healthcare at much Less Cost -- which would be an all-round solution for the patient who is suffering in quiet dignity. By using the services of Medical Tourism companies, Americans would experience a seamless & carefree world-class experience in health-care in a foreign country