What is medical tourism?
Medical tourism is simply the process of traveling abroad to a specific destination to obtain certain medical procedures. Canadians and Europeans have been traveling outside their regions for years to obtain medical procedures due the long waiting periods associated with socialized medicine. Now they have an opportunity to seek top quality procedures, where they can recover in anonymity and luxury at more affordable rates.
The Clinical outcomes are at par with the world’s best centers having internationally qualified & experienced doctors. Costs of medical procedures in India are approximately 1/5th to 1/10th of costs in the west. This cost differential enables you the opportunity to have a vacation in an exotic country, recover in a star resort in complete anonymity, and then return home having spent less than the procedure alone in your country. There is no waiting time for any surgical procedures.
Yes, currently India receives patients from over 50 countries across the world. Here are some reasons behind its emergence as the preferred healthcare destination: The cost of medical care in India is very low when compared to that in many western countries. India has a vast reservoir of skilled doctors. Many of them have proved their mettle in the US and UK and returned to India to work in hospitals here. The caliber of other doctors practicing in India is also of a very high order.
The difference in price depends upon the medical procedure you choose. The cost is 1/5th to 1/10th of costs of many procedures in the west. This significant cost reduction enables you purchase a round trip air ticket, recover in a star resort, buy a new wardrobe, and return home saving money.
Many countries have world-renowned health care system in terms of quality and technology, but have not adopted the legal system completely as in the western countries. For e.g Doctors in the US are required to pay medical malpractice insurance that usually cost over $100,000 annually.
Foreign doctors are required to pay medical malpractice insurance as well, but their costs are as low as $4000 annually. In addition to this insurance, certain economies are at different stages of development than the US. This absolutely does not mean that their healthcare technologies and institutions are behind the US. In fact, most of the private hospitals in India use exactly the same machines and instruments as the most advanced hospitals in the west