India : Gearing up for the opportunity

There has been no concerted effort to market India as a healthcare destination though it has always attracted thousands of patients from abroad. Now a few private hospitals are trying to attract medical travellers on their own. Of them, the Chennai-headquartered Apollo Hospitals group is probably the most aggressive and organised.In the late 1980s and early 1990s, most medical travellers coming to India were from the Arab countries, Africa and South-east Asia. But today, there’s a significant number from the CIS nations too. “Afghanistan and the CIS countries have become very important for us,” says a senior doctor at Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, Delhi.To attract foreign patients, Indian hospitals are seeking international certification and accreditation. “We have taken comprehensive quality accreditation from the international quality certification body, TUV Rheinland,” says R. Basil, CEO, Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. Hospital groups like Fortis, Max Healthcare and Wockhardt may even go for the JHACO accreditation. Apollo has already applied for it. “We are going for... recognition for Apollo Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, and, ultimately, for all the hospitals,” says Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals.
Cyril Parry with his doctor, Apollo Speciality’s Vijay Bose
India does have an edge if it wants to tap the medical traveller market. It churns out over 20,000 doctors a year and some of its healthcare facilities compare with the best in the world. It has earned a good reputation in a number of cutting-edge surgical treatments. And at least a couple of foreign companies think India is good enough to set up registries — centres where the first 500 surgeries are conducted after a medical device or surgical treatment has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Baxter did it for its medicated stents; Bausch & Lomb set up a registry for zyoptic surgery. Eyecare, in fact, is one area where India has a distinct advantage — it has more Lasik centres than some of the dev- eloped countries. And Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai conducts the largest number of cataract surgeries in the world. Travellers from South-east Asia also find that in some procedures, India offers significant cost advantages. Recently, a Malaysian patient suffering from Parkinson’s disease came for a deep brain surgery to Vimhans, Delhi. The cost, including travelling to India twice with an attendant, was a tenth of what it would have cost him in Singapore. India also has enough good private healthcare facilities. “We calculate that there are 6,000 beds in the private sector that are available for international patients,” says Roy Fernandez, vice-president (international marketing services), Apollo Hospitals group.The Apollo Hospitals group has treated 96,000 foreign patients till date. And is aiming for more. “The biggest opportunity is insurance and Apollo, for one, is looking for innovative ways to use it,” says Fernandez. As empanelment alone is not enough to get patients, Apollo is negotiating with oil multinational ARAMCO to offer special packages to its employees. Apollo has tied up with NIIT and Aptech so that attendants of patients who come for treatment for 2-3 months can take short-term IT courses. Meanwhile, a few travel agents are also trying to promote Indian systems of medicine. Kerala promotes its ayurvedic treatment centres to the tourist traffic.A few state governments are trying to pitch in. The Department of Tourism and the Department of Health in Karnataka took a mission to the International Health Tourism and Holidays exhibition in Bahrain. Last month, the government of Maharashtra and Ficci announced the setting up of the Medical Tourism Council of Maharashtra (MTCM). The Association of Private Hospitals of Maharashtra is joining the initiative. “The idea is to make an organised effort to get international patients to India,” says Joe Curien, CEO, Raheja Hospital, Mumbai. Some others are helping in a slightly different way. Metropolis chairman Sushil Shah says: “We are in the process of setting up labs in underdeveloped and developing countries. For developed countries like the US, we will do clinical testing here. The difference in costs is in the ratio of 1:10 or 1:8.” A recent study by McKinsey & Company estimated that India could earn revenues of $1 billion from medical travel. But for that to happen, the Indian government and private hospitals needed to be more systemic in their efforts. There is no paucity of ideas. Apollo’s Reddy suggests special flights targeted at international travellers. Improving the connectivity of Mumbai and Delhi (where most international flights land) with Hyderabad or Chennai, where there are many private hospitals, could help too. Building dedicated medical clusters outside, say, Mumbai, or Goa, and aggressively promoting them could be another major step. Finally, the opportunity needn’t be limited to conventional medical treatment. The study by SSDS, Inc. for WHO pointed out that retirement homes for the aged could be a big opportunity — especially if they were targeted at the clientele in the expensive, developed countries.