Back Ground to a new concept of Indian Medical outsourcing

 Although Delhi has witnessed an unprecedented growth in health care industry, how far has the capital become successful in attracting the medical tourist to its swanky and big hospitals?

When baby Noor Fatima, a two-and-a-half- year old Pakistani girl, successfully underwent an open heart surgery in India, she opened news vistas reminding the potential of medical tourism. The Ministry of External Affairs took this opportunity to encourage medical diplomacy, by facilitating the visit of cabinet ministers and provincial leaders to India for treatment.

Medical tourism is the buzzword now. The government as well as private players are keenly assessing the potential and means to tap the same. The boom in state-of-the-art hospitals and well-qualified doctors, have attracted the patient population from neighbouring countries, the Middle East and the West.

The equation is ‘First World treatment’ at “Third World prices”. A CII-McKinsey report last year, postulating the opportunities in health tourism, states that the medical tourism market in the country pegged a 30 per cent growth in 2000 and it has been growing at the rate of 15 per cent for the past five years.

“By 2012, if medical tourism were to reach 25 per cent of revenues of private up-market players, up to Rs 10,000 crore will be added to the revenues of these players,” adds the report. One of the Indian states, Kerala, setting an example by attracting health tourists, has emerged successful in generating revenues from medical tourism. Hospital groups in Delhi have realised the potential of health/ medical tourism but most of them are playing it by the ear.

Among private players, Apollo has been a forerunner in health tourism. It has been a choicest destination for patients from Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The group has tied up with hospitals in Mauritius, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Yemen besides running a hospital in Sri Lanka, and managing a hospital in Dubai.

In 2002, the number of patients who visited the hospital was 3001 and about 700 were hospitalised. Along with providing treatment, the stay of the foreign patients is taken care of by the hospital itself. The group has tied up with hotels in Delhi for this purpose. According to Dr. Chabra, additional medical director, ISIC (Indian Spinal Injury Centre), ISIC is another destination for patients from neighbouring countries, Gulf and a few NRIs from the US.

Now, to attract more people, the emphasis is on vacation plus treatment and special packages have been planned for this. On the anvil is another plan to make the patients and their relatives stay in the hospital complex with all the luxuries a hotel provides. Dr Shakti Gupta, AIIMS, stresses on the need to export health services. According to him, Indian doctors, medical services, and hospitals are at par with good hospitals in Europe and the US, so it is the right time to make the most of it.

AIIMS is a destination for patients from Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Mauritius, Malaya and Pakistan. Besides regular patients from the Middle-East, an occasional patient from the US drops in. Patients from Pakistan, especially children with heart afflictions, have been regularly coming to AIIMS’ heart centre.

According to Dr. Gupta, AIIMS was made for the entire South-East Asia populace and since it is a government institute there are no plans to attract more foreigners.

The attractions at AIIMS include cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, cancer treatment and ophthalmic procedures. “The services are charged on actuals and ours being a government institute we are not angling to make money but are here to serve the people,” stressed Dr. Gupta.
The Metro hospitals and Heart Institute, Noida, also manages to attract patients from Nepal, hutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and a few from Maldives and the Gulf region. Their motto is to extend excellent health services to people who travel here for health care and also for tourists who need health care while their stay in India.

Indian hospitals getting recognition from international insurance companies will bring in more patients from abroad, says Anil K Maini, head, marketing, health care business, Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre.

The centre is emerging fast as a favourite destination for patients from neighbouring countries, Africa and CIS. With BUPA recognition, patients from the UK are coming here for treatment. About 1,000 patients from abroad are treated in Escorts on an annual basis.
Although only a few hospitals are making conscious efforts to increase the existing inflow of health tourists, nobody denies the huge potential medical tourism has. And it will not be long before its full potential is realised, provided we cultivate the service mind set, put in place an accreditation system and project our capabilities overseas through multiple media.