Indian medical tourism will be a write-off in 2020, unless hospital management takes action

India’s medical tourism industry which had anticipated to grow by 200 percent by 2020, hitting USD 9 billion, is now in doldrums, at least for this year.

There may be some traffic, as the travel restrictions are eased, and patients after following due protocols including RT-PCR testing, come to India simply for its value proposition of outstanding value for money and excellent clinical outcomes and India may be better off than Europe and USA. However, the hospitals have a tough task ahead.

The Indian healthcare facilities and hospitality have been highly responsible for making medical tourism of India popular. India is on an international map and a one-stop country for all those that want affordable and quality healthcare facilities.

On the other hand, many of the international patients even prefer combining their relaxation and leisure visit to India for good healthcare. The appropriate healthcare facilities and hospitality have given it heights and growth.

Cost-effective medical treatment . Medical treatment in other developed countries as compared to India is much higher. With more than 50 million Americans around without health-insurance and waiting in a long queue run to India for gaining a quality treatment which is 5 times higher abroad.

Cost-effectiveness is one of the major reasons why people are coming to India for healthcare facilities. The affordability factor has made India a popular destination for people seeking medical facilities. Moreover, in India, many of the complicated surgical procedures are also done at low cost as compared to the charges taken in developed countries.

Reasons why India a hub of medical tourism. Being the fastest growing destination of medical tourism across the globe, India has expanded itself in the medical industry on a large scale. Every person can get tertiary medical treatment here which is not available in another country or it is too costly in other countries. Major reasons are:

• India offers affordable cost treatment as compared to other countries like the UK and the US.

• Access to medical services in case of emergency attracts most of the foreign medical tourists. The experts here don’t waste time and perform surgeries immediately.

• Getting a medical visa for India is much easier.

• India being a developing country, still offers standardized medical services and top-notch healthcare facilities by using the latest technology.

• Options of post retreatment recovery are also offered with therapies like Yoga, Ayurveda, Naturopathy, and others.

• India offers a great opportunity to medical tourists around that come to visit attractive places and enjoy the best of their medical tourist trips.

• India holds a strong base of skilled and qualified doctors. It has amazing doctors that are fluent in English and professional staff that makes things easier for a foreign tourist like guiding them in their native language.

The Indian hospitals will have to offer out-of-the-box proposals to keep this business going. – MB Bureau