Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Curing The World: An Opportunity For Medical Tourism in India
Curing The World: An Opportunity For Medical Tourism in India
+91 9820075332
chandni@dessenceconsulting.com
www.dessenceconsulting.com
Team D’Essence
Definition of Medical Tourism
Tourism combined with a visit for Medical Treatment is called as Medical Tourism. Medical
Tourism is also known as Healthcare Tourism.
Medical tourism is becoming a popular option for various people across the globe. This has led to
a rapid growth in the industry. Healthcare and Tourism industries are among the largest industries
in the world. Medical Tourism is being promoted as a Fusion product of these industries. Various
countries like Thailand, Malaysia, India, etc are promoting Medical Tourism aggressively.
Following are various reasons why people opt for another location for medical treatment.
• Lack of Expertise
• Cost Effectiveness
• Availability
• Care support – Family, etc
Several developing countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan do not have necessary expertise for
medical treatment in certain areas. Medical treatment at popular destinations is cheaper
compared to many developed countries. Patients get similar kind of treatment at cheaper costs.
In countries like U.K., people have to wait for a long time to be treated under various schemes
like NHS. Also, patients can not afford or get good support services for care during the treatment
because of various reasons. Hence, opting for places like India, Thailand, etc becomes a better
option for patients for medical treatment.
Why India?
India has several advantages that make it a natural choice for Medical treatment. Following are
some of them
India has a huge resource for tourism that can convert it in to one of the top destinations for
tourism. Some of them are
Based on above mentioned factors, India can easily become an attractive destination for medical
tourism if the industry is developed properly. As per IBEF, Indian Medical Tourism market is worth
US$ 333 millions. Mckinsey-CII estimates that the market size will increase up to US$ 2 billions
by 2012.
The cost difference would be a huge factor in making India as a popular destination. Following
table shows costs for various medical treatments in different countries.
The cost details provided in the table above do illustrate the advantage of India. However, it is
very difficult to get exact cost details because the industry data is not easily available.
Medical Tourism industry in India is evolving though it existed here for Centuries. Indian
advantage is slowly getting reflected in getting steady number of visits from medical treatment
from countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Middle East. NRIs have become another major
source. However, there is tremendous scope for making the industry of significant size.
There are various kinds of services that can be provided under medical tourism
Following diagram shows some of the common problems faced by the Industry. These problems
should be addressed for sustainable development in the Medical Tourism industry.
• Doctors
o Strong regulatory Framework to curb quacks
o No communication and inter-personal teaching
• Nurses and Paramedical
o Lack of initiatives and thinking capacity
o Deficient language skills
o Lack of standardization
• Service
o Hygiene awareness in medical attendants
o Unhygienic food handling
o Lack of hospitality services
o Heterogeneous pricing of services
o No industry standards
• Infrastructure
o Lack of connectivity
o Highly unorganized
o Lack of coordinating system
o Poor power supply
o Poor water supply
• Insurance
o Inadequate insurance cover
o Underdeveloped market
o Insurance Frauds
o Overseas companies refusing reimbursement
• Quality Accreditations
• Training and Development
o Poor infrastructure
o Lack of customer oriented approach
Policy specific Issues
• Government
o No regulations
o Taxation anomalies
o Bureaucratic roadblocks
o Land Reforms
o Lack of long-term investor friendly policies
• Instability with respect to terrorism and communal tensions
• Poor accessibility
• Lack of Capital
• Lack of Community participation and awareness
• Lack of involvement from rural sector
• Lack of concern for sustainability
• Complex Visa procedures
• Lack of good language translators
• Poor airport facilities
• Subsidiary Accommodation for Medical Tourists and its family before, during and after the
treatment
Major Players
• Escorts
• Apollo Hospital
• Indraprastha Apollo Hospital
• Hinduja Hospital
• Jaslok Hospital
Apart from this, several players are planning to enter the industry. These include large as well as
small players.
This shows that, significant source of revenues for such hospitals comes from international
patients. The industry is growing rapidly. Government along with other players is making moves
towards making this an important industry. The process of standardization has already started.
However, Government needs to make moves faster so that the opportunity is not tapped by other
industries similar to Tourism.
India has great resources for tourism. World-class medical facilities are already available at many
places. Hence, these two industries can definitely move together that provides a bright future for
the Medical Tourism Industry. The Medical tourism opportunity is so good that it can not be
ignored.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, digital or mechanical, including scanning, photocopying, recording or any
information storage and retrieval system relating to all or part of the text, photographs,
logotypes without first obtaining permission in writing from the publisher.
Off No. 2, Bldg No. 1 New Mhada Complex, Near PMGP Colony
Off Mahakali Caves Road, Andheri (East)
Mumbai, India- 400093
Tel 91-22-2834-7425, Fax 91-22-2822-8142
Email.- chandni@dessenceconsulting.com Mob - +91 9820075332
www.dessenceconsulting.com