The healthcare tourism industry has been witnessing a remarkable growth lately. There are various reasons for the continual growth of this industry especially within the Asian and African countries. One of them being the lure of inexpensive medical care, together with the scope of having fun with the scenic great thing about tourist destinations. One of the renowned experts, Marvin Cetron, founder and president of Forecasting International, have marked the growing trend of medical tourism and expect it to pose a serious challenge to the Western healthcare industry within the near future.
It is needed to have a look over the Western medical or healthcare scenario with a purpose to have a transparent picture of the type of competition that may crop up between the previous and the Third World medical tourism industry. In some undeveloped regions of the world, the medical facilities are hard to return by, whereas in other countries, the general public healthcare system is so overburdened that it could take years to get needed care. For instance, in countries like Britain and Canada, the waiting period for a hip substitute surgery might be greater than a 12 months; while in Bangkok or Bangalore, an individual can find himself within the operation theatre just after landing the exact same day! Not only this, the price involving the whole process is far lower than that charged in Western countries. For example, a heart-valve substitute that will cost $200,000 or more within the U.S. costs a mere $10,000 in India that features round-trip airfare and a temporary vacation package as well.
Doubts are sometimes raised regarding the standard of service offered by medical tourist destinations. But such arguments don’t have any solid ground because the facilities and services offered by them are almost equal and even higher than the Western medical services. There are hospitals and clinics that cater to the tourist market which can be often amongst one of the best on the earth. Most of them staff physicians who’ve received training from famous medical centers in United States or Europe. Bangkok’s Bumrundgrad hospital has greater than 200 surgeons who’re board-certified within the US, and one in every of Singapore’s major hospitals is a branch of the distinguished Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Statistics suggest that the services offered in a number of the leading medical tourist destinations often exceed their Western counterparts. As for instance, the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center in Delhi and Faridabad, India, performs nearly 15,000 heart operations every 12 months, and the death rate amongst patients during surgery is just 0.8 percent–less than half that of most major hospitals within the US. These figures are enough to make clear whatever doubts some skeptics might need on their minds.
The future prospect of healthcare tourism in developing nations thus appears to be vibrant because it is anticipated to amass a loyal clientele within the US and other western countries. With greater than 43 million US residents without medical insurance and 120 million without dental coverage, searching for medical aid outside their country would high on their priority list. Besides, there’s an ever-increasing demand for cosmetic surgery and dental treatments in European countries. These operations are highly expensive on the market and as such, increasingly persons are turning to the East for a reasonable alternative. Thailand and Phuket have emerged as the most well-liked medical tourism destinations through the years. However, medical tourism in India is quickly catching up with this competition and is on its strategy to turn into one in every of the favourite spots of medical tourists. The Indian medical tourism industry is now being recognized as one in every of the key earners of foreign exchange and is estimated that India could bring as much as $2.2 billion per 12 months by 2012.
Medical tourism industry is due to this fact all set to lure patients from all around the world. Many medical tourism organizations have arrange alliances with a number of the leading medical and healthcare centers like Apollo, Gleneagles Medical Center, Wockhardt, Dentzz, Fortis and so forth. With their world-class support, the medical tourism industry is bound to zoom its strategy to success.
