If it is medical safaris that attract tourists in South Africa, India is famous for its Rajasthani heritage tours and Kerala backwater tours. “After a treatment, patients usually prefer going to a place that is green, outside the city and is serene, where they can just sit back and relax,” says Sandeep. Annu Puri, director of Indicure adds, “Unless there is a specific location that has been recommended to them, people usually prefer visiting places that are closer to where their hospital is located. For example, a patient who got treated in Mumbai usually makes a stop in Goa for a holiday. Rajasthan is also becoming an extremely popular destination since celebrities like Madonna have been spotted there.”
Attracting Patients
When it comes to luring medical tourists, hospitals follow different approaches. Hiranandani Hospital boasts of its high-class infrastructure, a bed-to-space ratio of 1:1600 square feet and pre-hospitalization services that include providing cost estimates for treatment and stay, as well as assisting with arranging accommodation for relatives that accompany patients. On arrival, there is airport-to-hospital conveyance provided for the patient.
| DARE/preferred health centers |
| AIIMS |
| Apollo Cancer Hospital |
| Apollo Hospital |
| Aravind Eye Hospitals |
| Ayurvedagram |
| BM Birla Heart Research Centre |
| Christian Medical College |
| Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre |
| Hiranandani Hospital |
| Indraprastha Medical Corporation |
| Institute Cardiovascular Diseases |
| Kalari Kovilakom |
| Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences |
| KG Hospitals |
| PD Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre |
| Tata Memorial Hospital |
| Wockhardt Hospitals |
| Source: Various websites |
“An overseas traveller comes in with a perception of a hospital that can be compared to western standards. When the patient can actually see glimpses of that hospital here in India as well, they feel satisfied,” says Sujit. He continues by saying, “We don’t advertise on a regular basis and neither do we go overseas for conferences, pitching for our medical value. We don’t even have special partners that send patients to us from abroad. We give our patients a one-stop service. They simply logon to our website and apply.”
Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) also has great infrastructure and well-qualified doctors withinternational experience. According to EM Najeeb, executive director of KIMS, “There were around 25,000 foreign patients last year from the Maldives, the Middle East and other neighbouring countries.” However, when it comes to medical tourists, they work differently from Hiranandani. They have a tie-up with International Patient Division and several such organizations that source international patients to them. They offer tailor-made packages after investigating the medical history of the patients and determining the logistic support that is required.
“We work with the Great India Tour Company, a sister company of KIMS, to arrange for tourism packages, hotel reservations, as well as ticketing and travel for the patients. The tourism packages usually consist of boat and backwater cruises, beach holidays, ayurveda tours and wildlife tours.” claims Najeeb.
Facilitating Agencies
There are several agencies that are working towards organizing the health service sector and acting as a facilitator between patients and various hospitals, hotels and tour companies. They also provide advisory services to medical tourists related to their treatment and stay in the host country.
While there are some agencies that focus strictly on medical tourism, there are others that have expanded their parent companies into medical tourism as well. One such agency is that of Sandeep Bafna, based in Bangalore. He started his tour company, Travel India Company, about four years ago and medical tourism in just one of the divisions of the company. “While most travel agencies just put a section on their parent website, my portal (indian-medical-tourism.com) launched in 2006, is a dedicated website just for medical tourism,” says Sandeep. He coordinates the entire medical treatment process, as well as arranges for airport pickup and drop, accommodation and packaged tours for the patients. According to him, 10% of the total revenue of his agency is generated from medical tourism.
Indicure, another such agency, provides comprehensive and customized services strictly catering to medical tourists coming to India. Says Annu Puri, director of Indicure, “We work in coordination with the services of consultants, hospitals, travel and transportation companies and hotels to make the experience of coming to India for healthcare completely hassle free for the tourists. It is like a chain and we are like a thread leading the entire chain.” Indicure has a network of spas and resorts and provides rejuvenation and side-trips to the patients as well. When it comes to accommodation, Indicure has a variety of options ranging from star hotels to fully furnished and serviced apartments. “It is a complete end-to-end solution that we provide to our clients. We don’t want our patients to get any surprises, so it’s a complete trust building exercise that we do, even before the actual treatment starts,” says Annu.
The price of such services varies depending on the kind of treatment required, what hospital and accommodation the patient chooses and whether or not they are looking for a recuperative holiday after their treatment.
Challenges en-route
“The Indian government does not have a standardized policy regarding medical tourism yet, which can pose as a hurdle in the growth of the industry. The fact that there is no uniformity in accreditation makes a tourist hesitant towards coming here,” says Sandeep.
Also, there is tough competition for India coming in from countries like Thailand and Singapore. “We get around 300 queries in a month, but the conversion rate is really poor. We lose out on medical tourists to countries like Thailand and Bangkok, because the prices are very comparable and the destination is multi-favourable, with its good hospitals, pleasant climate and hot tourist destinations. India still is often associated with pollution, malaria, bad roads, traffic and unhygienic water,” says Annu.
What works in favor of places like Thailand is the fact that the Thailand government works in conjunction with the healthcare industry in a public-private partnership. Also, aggressive international marketing is done in association with the tourism industry. India should work in a similar manner to shatter the image of India as a Third World country and to attract more tourists to the country.
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written by Thomas, February 03, 2011
written by Delhi Hai mere jaan, December 14, 2010
written by Jyothsna, August 16, 2010
Regards
Jyothsna
written by sanjayshashank, May 29, 2010
I am currently active in wellness Tourism industries in Delhi. I have started a Medical Tourism Venture and looking for an IT & ITES professional to join me for overseas marketing. I am also keen to know if any Healthcare Centres, Hospitals or Ayurvedic Treatment Centres are willing to tie with us for treating our patients.
Regards,
sanjay shashank
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Director Medical tourism
ExcelMedinetIndia
written by richard, May 25, 2010
can people from the usa come to india to get treated for drug addication, and be admitted into a drug rehab here in india?
regards
richard
written by Dick, May 25, 2010
written by Flsugar, April 10, 2010
written by Khushal Bhargava, January 02, 2010
written by Gloscon, October 28, 2009
written by compare cheap insurance quotes, September 10, 2009
Great posting.
http://www.nextgencompare.co.uk/finance/travel-money.html
written by Hitesh bansal, August 19, 2009
http://www.indiameditours.com
written by Rahul Kulkarni, April 18, 2009
I am currently active in Biomedical & Tourism industries in Pune. I am keen on starting a Medical Tourism Venture and looking for an IT & ITES professional to join me for overseas marketing. I am also keen to know if any Healthcare Centres, Hospitals or Ayurvedic Treatment Centres are willing to tie with us for treating our patients.
Regards,
Rahul Kulkarni
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written by Roshan Shah, April 06, 2009
Roshan Shah
Founder Kosansh
http://www.kosansh.com
written by Carol Brooks, April 06, 2009
written by emr, March 16, 2009
written by Ask a nurse, March 08, 2009
Another related industry is virtual ask a nurse hotlines, where people can save thousands of dollars by not going to the ER via a simple phone call and uploading of pictures .
written by Callcarenet.com, March 07, 2009
Another related industry is virtual ask a nurse hotlines, where people can save thousands of dollars by not going to the ER via a simple phone call and uploading of pictures .
written by Prashant Thakkar, September 23, 2008
I have read this article for more then 5 times and each time i have seen various opportunities in the industry.
I am the director of one of the startup ITES company. I want to launch one site in this domain along with medical and tourism industry i would like to add few more domains on the site.
I need help in collecting information for various medical, tourism, real estate, insurance, hospitality and from other domain.
Kindly help me by providing some resources, interested partners and/or institutes or centers from where i can collect the information.
Keeping 2010 in mind i would like to develop the site or the information center ASAP.
Regards,
Prashant Thakkar
written by Prashant Thakkar, September 23, 2008
I have read this article for more then 5 times and each time i have seen various opportunities in the industry.
I am the director of one of the startup ITES company. I want to launch one site in this domain along with medical and tourism industry i would like to add few more domains on the site.
I need help in collecting information for various medical, tourism, real estate, insurance, hospitality and from other domain.
Kindly help me by providing some resources, interested partners and/or institutes or centers from where i can collect the information.
Keeping 2010 in mind i would like to develop the site or the information center ASAP.
Regards,
Prashant Thakkar
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*The people or patients from foreign countries coming through the Indian Medical Visas should register their arrival in India within 14 days in the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).
*The applicants of Indian Medical Visas should provide the documents related to their communication with the Medical Institution which provides the treatment to the applicant, in India. Right before an Indian - Medical Visa is granted to an applicant,
*Only two people can accompany a patient who applied for a Visa. They may be the family members or the attendants, and their Visas to India are of co-terminus with the patient’s ‘M’ Visa.