Does medical tourism mean generating revenue at the cost of the local’s health? What steps should the government take to improve medical tourism?
Dr Jawali: About 25% of rooms in private hospitals are either single rooms or suits. These are the revenue generating areas and not many locals stay here. Africans spend one billion US dollars in health care and they look toward south India for their treatment. Moreover, cost of the treatment in north India is 30% more expensive than what it is here. Thus if the government comes forward, we can utilise this opportunity to the utmost. If the government can spend 20% of its budget which it spends for the Incredible India campaign on medical tourism, India can do wonders. There should be a separate and quicker arrangement of getting visa and immigration for medical tourists. BIAL should provide special facilities for recently operated patients. We can also organise for transportation services wherein the patient is picked up from the airport and dropped back to the airport after the treatment. And in the bargain, the government will earn more than the hospitals.
Dr Maheshwari: Too much focus on medical tourism would mean making the whole system western, getting the same standard of equipment and comfort that the West is used to. The advantage of this will be that we’ll have the latest technology; the overall level of the way we deal with a particular treatment will improve. However, if that also means having an international cell focusing only on foreign patients and in the process neglecting the others, then it’s not right. We should try to utilise medical tourism for the benefit of the patients and simultaneously focus on the researches that can benefit our people.
Dr Gopinath: We need to maintain a balance between technology and the patient’s affordability. Treatment should be need based, specialty based and priority based. Treating foreign patients should not be our only priority and at the cost of neglecting others.
Dr Chandy: Meditourism is like the icing on the cake. And the icing cannot sit atop the cake unless the cake is well baked. Bangalore should have a better presentation of its hospitals in order to attract more foreign patients. If the government helps in marketing meditourism, a larger influx can be derived.
Dr Jayaram: Transparency of hospital records should be maintained in public. This will boost a sense of security among the patients.
Moreover, information about the treatments should be well dispersed in India and abroad. People should be made to understand about the cost effectiveness of treatments here.
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